One Piece: novel A(ce) 1
by MasterQwertster
Summary: Masked Deuce, the first of the Spade Pirates crew. What is Ace's life like through his eyes? (A fan translation of the novel of the same title)
1. Intro

DISCLAIMER: I don't own this, nor am I making any money from this. It all belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Shou Hinata. This is a fan made translation by yours truly with a lot of help from dictionaries (I know the grammar pretty well, needed help with the vocabulary).

And a big thanks to Black' Victor Cachat for checking this over for me to make sure my English made sense, as sometimes I'd get a little too caught up in translating.

o-o-o

Okay, so hello and welcome to _Novel A 1_. This is a novel for One Piece made of three chapters about Ace's journey from the start of his crew to his departure for Fishman Island from Sabaody. Each chapter is just a single event/story in that trip.

These stories were originally published one at a time in the One Piece Magazine's three volumes, then bound into one book and published on April 4, 2018. Since I was in Japan at the time of release, I bought a copy, and trying to do something nice for the fandom, sat down and translated it all in my free time.

Be understanding about my translation in that I'm not fully fluent in Japanese at the time of this project, but know enough to get by.

A few notes for my translation of the novel are:

There were a couple of spots with extra space between paragraphs which are marked by a centered "o-o-o" since you can't have blank lines here.

I left 'Mera Mera no Mi' in original Japanese as I personally prefer the Japanese names of the Devil Fruits and at this point can't really stand a mix of the Japanese with the English 'Fruit.' Part of this has to do with certain Devil Fruit names, such as the Mera Mera no Mi, deriving from Japanese onomatopoeia (in this case the crackling sound of flames) and part of it is the express uniformity of the Japanese names always being two syllables versus the English attempt to be so (not that the official English translators don't do a great job picking English Fruit names).

However, I did use 'Fire Fist' over 'Hiken' as it is more common and accepted to do the English of epithets as they generally don't have the translational issues or lost nuances (except Whitebeard because 'hige' is both mustache and beard). And since Ace's epithet is taken from his technique, I have also used the English translations of his techniques .

o-o-o

Thanks for reading this little intro and enjoy the stories!


	2. Prologue

**Cover Band**

"I'll surpass the Pirate King!"

"We'll surpass them… Waves, storms, and even Fate─"

Ace washed ashore on the uninhabited island of Sixis in the East Blue. Having arrived in distress on this isolated island, Ace meets a man. Together, he and Ace escape the island and decided to go on adventures together, thus the Spade Pirates were formed. To challenge the Grand Line…

Masked Deuce, the first of the Spade Pirates crew. What is Ace's life like through his eyes? And what has Ace left behind in this world?

 **Prologue**

The father was no longer in this world.

Before his son was born, he was executed at the hands of the Marines.

He left behind a woman that would become a mother and the unborn child within her.

There was no one who didn't know of the father.

To protect the unborn child, the woman hid in the town she was born in.

And there, without anyone knowing, a new life quietly came into the world.

South Blue's Baterilla.

Was it a trick of fate?

On this island, she gave birth to the child carrying the blood of the Pirate King.


	3. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I set out to sea because a guy who had the track of his life laid out before him derailed mine.

A blue sea that continues to the ends of the earth, that was the world I truly thought I lived in.

That was exactly were the world of storied adventures I longed for as a child was. With a book in hand, it was a dream world I just couldn't help but watch. And that world, I'm now in it.

An uninhabited island with pear trees. A baking hot sun. White beaches. An empty stomach. All of that was reality. Just the quiet sound of the waves to gently mark the passage of time. On this beautiful island that seemed to have jumped out of the pages of a story book, today too you could hear the noisy calls of the seabirds.

Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of one day trying my hand at writing an adventure story.

If I did, I think I'd like it to be a book like "Bragmen." It's my favorite book.

In that book, which is a collection of entries from old adventurers' log books, is the famous episode of "Little Garden" an island where Giants live.

A child at heart, I thought the adults of the world were idiots to say that all of the stories that book contained were lies.

 _Why did they get to decide something like that?_

Regardless of anyone else's opinion, I wanted to verify their truth by seeing things with my own eyes. Until you confirm it with your own eyes, you shouldn't get to decide that. That is the kind of human I want to be.

Even now, that thought hasn't changed. Even if that means washing up on an uninhabited island that's said to be unescapable.

The East Blue. The too beautiful island of Sixis.

The island closest to heaven. That's what everyone said. Why do they say that? Because once you set foot on that island, that's the end, you won't leave it even in death.

Looking at it, there was a special sea current out beyond the glistening emerald green shallows. The closer ones carried things towards the island. Just like that, it was the Ant-lion Pit of the Sea. Because of this, everyone who comes to the island is forced to enjoy one last vacation in their life.

Letting out a big sigh, I laid down in the shade of a pear tree. I idly watched the sea. It's already been three days since I came to this island. It was the worst vacation of my life.

A gentle sea breeze stroked my cheek. On the other hand, the smell of the continuous tide is terribly realistic, possibly because of the bleach white skeleton of the previous guest sitting next to me.

By the clothes on it, they seemed to have been a pirate. The completely fleshless hand held a rusted over pistol and a gorgeous ring glinted on its finger. What useless stuff. Weapons and gems, you don't need to carry either of them into that distant world.

 _All that's left when you die are bones, huh…?_

"Either way, it's a real mess…" I muttered, having nothing better to do. I'd probably forget the sound of my own voice if I didn't do that. Thinking about how I'd be skeleton like that in the near future, I mumbled a bit more…

"What an idiot I am…"

Leaning back against the pear tree, I closed my eyes. I forced myself to swallow my saliva down my parched throat. Unconsciously, I considered how it was too late to save myself. That wasn't a good sign.

"We could at least make a grave. I'll help too."

"A grave…? I see… Let's do it…"

The bleached white skeleton was ridiculously pitiful. I made the grave and gave a memorial service. Didn't have a clue who they were, but I said some nice things for them.

I swallowed my saliva again. Anyways, my throat really hurt.

I had to go looking for water soon. It's already been nearly two whole days since I've drunken any water. It'd be nice if there's fruit in this pear tree I'm leaning against. That's what I thought. Were there monkeys inside the forest? Was that a seasonal thing? Unfortunately, I didn't find a single pear.

The seabirds' calls were as shrill as ever. Listening carefully to the sound of the coming and going waves. If it's seawater, there's as much as you'd like, yet…

"Who are you!?"

I opened my eyes with a sigh, my pace upset. Just before me, on an uninhabited island that should have no people, was an attempt at a normal conversation.

If I did that─

There was the sound of sand crunching underfoot. Polished black boots. Before my eyes stood a single man. With the sparkling and glistening sea behind him, it was like he had backlighting.

"Yeah, nice to meet you."

Our eyes met and he gave a polite bow in greeting. The greeting didn't match the uninhabited island.

"My name is Ace. I'm wandering around the beach. Nice to meet you."

He gave his name with a wide grin. His orange hat was bright in the light filtering through the trees. As I narrowed my eyes and looked up at him, the guy casually sat down. A crimson necklace quietly swayed around his neck.

I noticed that he brought our line of sights to the same height. He was a young guy with freckles. We were probably around the same age. His toned body seemed to really suit an adventure story and the sound of the waves.

This was my first encounter with Portgas D. Ace.

I remained silent. My eyes widened in surprise. On this uninhabited island I'd had the bad luck to drift ashore on, there was no way I would meet anyone here. So the moment I got a glance of a guy standing before me, the word "rescue" was already floating up in my brain.

The man named Ace─ no, my Saviour, opened his mouth to speak.

"This is kind of sudden, but my ship got wrecked. Please save me."

"Wait, you're in the same situation as me!?"

 _Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!_ I screamed and cried in my mind.

In all the wide world and seas, we somehow ended up stranded on the same uninhabited island at the same time? What were the odds of that? I couldn't stomach this shit-tastic miracle before my eyes.

I weakly answered that.

"…my ship broke in the previous storm. My luggage almost ended up a gift to Davy Jones along with the ship. In that storm, it was like all the good deeds I'd done meant nothing."

My chapped lips split and bled. It'd been a while since I'd talked with anyone.

By the way, Davy Jones was a pirate a long time ago. A legend of a man cursed by a devil to live on the sea floor even to this very day. That's why things that are sunk, boats, treasures, all of it, are said to be gifts to him. Of course, no one actually thinks that he's really alive down there. That's just what the legend says. I mean, if he really was down there, those aren't gifts but accidentally lost items, so he should return them, right?

"Is that so? …Well, guess we both got unlucky…" Ace said, letting out a happy laugh. Between us drifters it was really frustrating.

When it came to Ace, you may have noticed that I was frustrated. One reason was that I felt you can't smile much in this situation, and of course that he didn't want to stop saying the same things I'd said to the bleached skeleton.

No, that wasn't right. I reconsidered that in a flash. This guy probably wasn't scared of this island because he didn't know anything about it yet. He was a novice at being shipwrecked. What does that mean? It means that the starvation and thirst will make his thoughts indecipherable.

"Me… I got here 3 days ago…"

It was a quiet yet powerful mutter.

How's that, I've been surviving here for three days. Think you can match that? By their meaning, those words had the feeling of puffing my chest in pride mixed into them.

"This is my sixth day. I've got you beat."

"Eeeeeeeeh!?"

At Ace's words, I shouted out without thought. This guy was more badass than me.

"Ah well, before that… I'm making a raft, but it's not going too well. So why don't you lend me a hand and we can build a boat together?

With a delighted expression, Ace told me all about it. According to Ace, he had already tried two or three times to escape the island by making an instant raft. On his own, it just went wrong and he was at a loss, then he discovered me.

─building a boat together…

At a glance, it sounded like a good idea. However, that would be trusting a person I just met and don't actually know, doing nothing more than testing our fates together.

If thought about simply, more hands were obviously better. But that wouldn't work in our current situation. This was an uninhabited island. There was a limited amount of everything. Even all on your own it was hard to survive here, even more so with two of us. Two portions of water. Two portions of food. A boat just big enough to fit two. Wouldn't we have to prepare all of this? It's ridiculous. What if we could only find enough food for one of us?

Should I share it with a guy I just met? No, splitting it was the easiest choice. And if one of us took it all for ourselves? It was all well and good to say we'd cooperate with each other, but if there was a last-minute betrayal?

Even without extreme conditions, people will betray each other. Even more so when it comes to living or dying on an uninhabited island. There was no one else to see you. Could I really trust the person before me until the end?

That's why I don't work with others. I don't need any nakama. Since I set out for the sea, I decided to live alone without relying on anyone. If I do that, I'll never be betrayed by people.

When I first saw Ace, the moment I heard his voice, there were expectations somewhere for me. How miserable. There was still softness in my heart somewhere.

He came to save me, I thought. That's really what I thought.

Even though such a thing shouldn't be.

My emotions quickly cooled down. It's supposed to be my own life, yet here I am watching it like it's someone else's life. Even someone like me was happy to have actually met someone when I should have been all alone on this uninhabited island. It felt like soaring.

But that too was short-lived. Nakama just made the feeling of being all alone all the more prominent. After all, if you meet someone, no matter where that is, no matter what the situation is, you'll inevitably have to confront the emptiness within your own heart.

"By the way, I still haven't heard your name yet."

It had only been a few minutes at most since we met, yet Ace was already barreling forward on his own. He didn't stand still. When it comes to giving my own name, I've always hated when others ask for your name so familiarly.

"I'm not giving you my name…" I muttered in reply, dancing around the subject. I didn't trust someone I was meeting for the first time to give them my real name. Since the day I decided to live on my own, I left my name behind.

"What's with that? We're already friends, right?"

That's what Ace said. Since when were we friends?

"Come on, I said to tell me your name."

"Shut up… Alright, if a penname is fine, how about I tell you any number of those?"

Before a pushy Ace, such a thing just slipped out.

"A penname…?"

"'Ace' is a good name, yeah? Mind if I use it when I write adventure stories?"

Those were the words that poured out of my mouth without a thought. What a strange feeling. The story flowed, but in this place, in this situation, for the words flying out of my mouth to be of my childhood dream…

In response to my request to use his name, Ace's expression clouded over.

"Oi, wait a minute. It's my name."

"That's why I called it a penname. It doesn't matter what name it is, see?"

"Quit it. My goal is to bring my name to the top. So don't copy it."

'The top' Ace said. With just that, I could imagine to some extent what kind of person Ace was. And the probable reason for why he came to this island too.

"Did you find the treasure?" I asked, ignoring the flow of the conversation.

"Do you know something?" he immediately replied.

"No… just rumors…"

"Having amazing treasure marks a strong pirate. That's what I thought when I came here, but I lost my ship and can't find the treasure at all. There's no bounties here and, as a bonus, I haven't been able to leave. This is a ferocious island, isn't it?"

I realized for the first time that he was thinking of raising his name by finding a legendary treasure no one had ever found before or beating well-known pirates. Just for the sake of that commonplace ambition, he came to this island…

From its beautiful appearance, there's been a legend of treasure on this island since long ago. It's a famous story among the local sailors. However, no one approaches this island. It's only natural. Anything that enters won't be able to leave until the very end. Even if there really was treasure.

First of all, there's no lack of gossip about treasure among sailors. No one knows what's going on in the island's interior. They just point at the beautiful island they can only view from a distance and speculate on what might or might not be there.

I don't know who he heard it from, but Ace took such gossip seriously and bothered to come to this island. He's the type to be destroyed by his ambitions. Furthermore, he stupidly thinks that cooperating will allow us to live longer.

"Got it! Be Deuce!" Ace suddenly said to me. "Your penname. How about it? Be Deuce. It sounds like Ace, doesn't it?"

"Ah? 'Deuce' you say…?"

Deuce. Wasn't that a term for two in cards or dice? It certainly meant 'bad luck.' It described my current situation perfectly. But ironically it wasn't that bad a name…

Just in case, I tried asking Ace.

"You do know what deuce means, right…?"

"Nope. But it sounds similar, right?"

He gave that answer with an honest look, so he probably really doesn't know.

With a serious expression, he gave a single, seemingly satisfied nod.

"It's too bad, but Ace is my name. I can't let you have my name. That's why I think Deuce would be a good penname for you. They sound alike, you know."

"Quit going on about how they sound alike!"

"But aren't you the one who refuses to tell me your name? And you tried to take my name. How would people know who is who if the two people on the same uninhabited island are Ace? Just think about it. With just the two of us on this island, if I, who should be Ace, call you Ace, then who am I supposed to be?!"

"Well, you're… Ace… right…? Besides, I was going to use it as a penname someday. It's not like I want you to start calling me 'Ace' right now…"

"But that doesn't make when I have to address you any easier. So from now on I'll call you Deuce!"

 _It's great, right?_ he seemed to think. I didn't really care for it, but if he liked it, whatever. It's not like I had any intention of getting along with him.

"Well, that's that, you're Deuce. Now I noticed this earlier, but…" Ace crossed his arms and stared seriously at my face, "Does everyone in your hometown wear one of those? Or was there a festival or something?"

When I say Ace was staring at my face, it would be more accurate to say he was staring at the mask hiding my eyes and asking about that.

"Ah, by any chance, can I touch it?"

At the same time, I also noticed that. He introduced himself first, so regardless of appearance, he was a perfectly polite guy. But, that concern is useless. At the same time I left my name behind, after I set out to sea, I also decided to hide my face.

"No, and it's just something I wear because I like it…"

"Oh? Then you can be Masked Deuce. It even kinda matches the way you dress with that coat. Yeah, it doesn't sound bad at all."

"Don't give me such a weird name!"

As Ace nodded once in satisfaction, I sighed. I just got dragged into his pace. This Ace guy had an air to him unlike any other.

In the first place, I wear a mask because I don't want people who don't understand my lifestyle to know my identity. If they don't know what my face looks like, it's easier to avoid trouble.

"Listen. Since the time I decided to set out to sea I've been wearing this mask. By doing this, if I say, catch the Marines's attention, even then, they won't know who I am. It makes sense, right?"

Said another way, it was a form of commitment to my resolve.

In order to live on the seas alone, I left both my real name and my face back on land. And that was when I first realized I was living my own life. I wasn't a bad medical student anymore. I had no regrets about that. Furthermore, I had no place on land like that.

My father is an excellent doctor, and my older brother became an excellent doctor just like him. I was the only one that wasn't excellent, the odd one out in my family.

When I met with my father, all he said was "Don't embarrass me." It felt like he never said anything else to me, he just repeated those words.

I was always compared to my excellent older brother. My older brother didn't treat me like that. He avoided and thoroughly ignored me.

Friends would often tease us, asking if we were really brothers. Things like that would make my older brother angry, so that's probably why he avoided me.

Also, these friends thought they'd look stupid hanging out with me, so they avoided me too. If I came close to them, they'd tease me and toss insults at me. Thinking about it now, I was probably the only one that thought of us as friends.

I didn't belong with them. Nothing I did would change that. I just went with the flow of things. Well, it's a common story.

However, even if that's common in any world, even it's a commonplace and boring story, I can't escape being the protagonist of that boring story.

If that's the way it is, then at least I shouldn't be punished for trying to live honestly to my own feelings.

In my home town the days just passed by, the same thing every day again and again.

Gradually, the foolish thought that the current me just wasn't the real me got stronger. I wanted to become the real me. I wanted to try living the life of the real me.

In those empty days, I got my hands on a copy of Bragmen.

As soon as I finished reading it, I could suddenly see the brilliance of the sea. I got a taste of the shocking experience of things like what colors are only out beyond the sea.

In that moment, I found my true self. I realized that now was the start of my life. That's what I decided, body and soul.

Living life and pushing forward before a wild death. If I fall, even if it's in a river of mud, I'll stand up again. That's what I resolved to do. And to do that I needed this mask.

The mask is something I need to be me.

o-o-o

"I don't know if that makes sense or not, but I think if you're a man you should proudly show your face and give your name, yeah? That said, I can't imagine doing otherwise."

At Ace's words, I sighed as I remembered the past. It felt like forever ago that I left my home town.

"I don't really want a bounty. I want a normal adventure, that's all."

"If that's the case, then you shouldn't need to hide your face and name, right?"

"I don't know if you'll get it, but where I used to live people who asked to go out to sea were looked down on and made fun of. Pirates, people with bounties, and adventurers, they're all considered trouble. The day they find out you fell into such a life, it's not strange for them to even stone your family."

"I see... oh, I get it!"

Having seemed to realize something, Ace's face lit up with a smile.

"You care about your family."

"...what?"

"You didn't want to cause trouble for the family you left in your home town. Am I right or what?"

Given Ace's confidence in saying so, I spoke up without thinking.

"I don't like them! I dislike them! In fact, I hate them! That's why I'm out here!"

"Is that so? How strange. I was sure I had it right..."

Ace frowned as he ruffled his black hair on top of his head.

"That's... not the case..."

Fame? That shouldn't be it. But, I didn't say any more than that in reply.

"Speaking of family, I've got a little brother. Well, we're not related by blood, but still..." Ace said, turning to look out to sea. "He's noisy like a monkey. I can barely remember a time without him, so being away from him and going it on my own like this, it's unexpectedly lonely..."

Ace chuckled with a lopsided grin. His little brother unrelated by blood. That's Ace's family.

Ace seemed so happy thinking about his adopted family.

While I was jealous of Ace's circumstances, I was also frustrated. Even when I left the town I was born in, I didn't feel anything like loneliness.

Even though Ace and I seemed to be roughly the same age, why had we lived such different lives until now?

o-o-o

When I think about being related to you by blood, I get embarrassed.

o-o-o

Since my older brother always ignored me, the only thing he ever said to me was that. Even now those words are still burned into my memory and when I remember them I can't help but clench my fists.

"Good for you... you have somewhere to return to..." I said with that realization. then I continued as if I were alone, "Why did you come here?! Why don't you just go back to your little brother?!"

"O-oi. Whey are you mad so suddenly...?"

"I'm different from you! If you've got somewhere you want to return to, isn't that happiness?!"

I suddenly stood up and stomped towards him.

"You've got somewhere to return to, a great little brother related not by blood but by heart, and you're a disgustingly happy bastard! Isn't that right? You've surely got a loving mom and dad that are anxiously awaiting your return. You're damned well blessed!" I spat out in my rage. With that I turned my back on him, intending to leave.

Then-

"My mother, she's gone..." Ace muttered in reply. His behavior now was different than anything from before, his voice sunk low.

Without thinking my legs came to a halt. I got the sense that I'd really said something insensitive. But even if I thought that, I didn't go back.

"And your father? What about your father, huh?" I asked, looking back over my shoulder. Why did Ace's eyes swim as soon as I said the word father?

"My father, is gone too...!"

This really wasn't good. The air around us was thick with bad feelings. But even understanding that wrongness snuggly wrapped around us, I started to make convoluted excuses.

"Whenever I met with my father, he'd never say anything to me besides 'don't embarrass me.' Compared to that, hanging out with you should be kind of useless. So if he's gone, he's gone and it's all fine, right? If all you've got left are happy memories-" I said, then I paused. Ace was staring me down. And I could see he was trembling just a little as he opened his mouth.

"I don't have any happy memories... I don't even know my mother's face. And my father wasn't a very good person. The short version of it is that he was a criminal..."

"A criminal, you say, and he's already dead, right? Even though it's not like you did anything wrong, why are you making such a sour face? Don't let it trouble you!"

Silence. As Ace's dark expression stayed in place, he began to babble at me.

"So that doesn't make me bad, is it?! I'm just being self-conscious! No one will mind if there's a famous criminal around! In fact, like you, no one will even think about it, right?! Do you even understand the problem of saying a criminal is a criminal, like if I were to say my parent is the Pirate King? He was the worst criminal. It makes me want to die. But it's not like that for you, right? Right? Don't make me the main character of some tragedy…" he said, and I just didn't know what to say anymore.

Ace stared at the sandy beach as those words left his mouth.

"No… wait, hold on a second… I mean, what's with that reaction…?"

It was a strange atmosphere and the forced dry laughter was pointless.

"That's not true… right…?"

Ace closed his eyes. Then, he just barely nodded his head.

"R-Roger…? _That_ Roger…? The Pirate King, Roger…?"

A moment─

Then Ace silently confirmed it.

The sun was already setting, staining the sky around us red. And Ace just sat there in the silence. The sea birds that had been so loud earlier had at some point stopped crying out. With only the sound of the waves, I could easily hear him. I didn't think this island could be so quiet.

I stared at Ace's face.

The Pirate King, Gold Roger.

He wasn't some ordinary criminal. His was a legendary name of evil that everyone in the world knew.

He was the pirate said to have conquered the Grand Line and obtained the One Piece.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his execution marked a great change in the world.

Before Roger and after Roger.

That's the thought that has taken root in the world, the man had such a large influence.

Many townsfolk fear him, the Marines and World Government see him as a threat, and by the hands of rogues and misfits, he's a defied existence. That is the man called Roger.

Speaking honestly, I've always considered him to be something like a monster sprung forth from legends. And you're saying that that man's son, a true son by his own blood, is Ace, the guy right before my very eyes?

It's not a story you can just believe out of the blue. If we weren't castaways on an uninhabited island with practically no food or water, I'd be laughing my head off at this normal tall-tale. But here we were…

In situations of extreme hunger and thirst, a human's true nature shows. They start to speak and act in ways they normally don't. That's the way I've been since earlier until now.

Myself, Ace too, we were past the point of lying anymore.

It's not that we couldn't, it just wasn't the kind of situation you lie in.

I wondered just what Ace was thinking as he had yet to say anything more.

I don't know if he felt regret for that or not. If he regretted revealing the secret of his birth. But at the very least, in an emergency situation, the truth comes from the bottom of your heart─

"Shit…"

Clicking my tongue at the unsettling idea, I turned my back on Ace once again.

"Ah, h-hey, let's build a boat together…"

"Don't talk to me anymore… I have no intention getting help from someone like you…"

Leaving behind that line on not needing nakama, I walked across the sand.

Wrapped in that bad air, I left that place behind.

To prepare for my escape, my immediate needs were water and food. Even if I escaped the island, it would be meaningless if I starved to death at sea.

Leaving Ace to make a boat on his own, I wandered around the island's interior to collect water and food.

That said, the only decent food I got my hands on were the sea birds' eggs, which couldn't satisfy chronic hunger. The sea birds danced in the sky, even though it would be so convenient if, as they flew over my head, they'd fulfill the mandate of heaven and drop down to me. I couldn't count how many times I thought that ridiculous thought.

There was a forest on the island, but I couldn't spot any edible looking animals or fruits. I could hear birds and other things, but I couldn't see them. I dug into the ground and found some potato-like things, however they had to be poisonous because just touching them to my lips caused them to numb and swell up.

And the ants in the forest were fierce, attacking if you just got close to their nest.

They got all over my body, biting into my skin countless times. In my anger, I devoured the ants clustered in the palm of my hand. They were sour. And they did nothing to fill my empty stomach.

All I could think about was food.

And why, at a time like this, wasn't it my favorites I remebered, but all the common dishes that you never really notice as peaceful days pass you by. If it's normal, then it's not the type of food you think of, yet they kept popping in and out of my mind.

Food leftover from when I got full, all the food I secretly didn't eat as a child because I didn't like it, I remembered all of it at that moment. If it was all before my eyes right now…

If I escaped this island, the first thing I'd do is eat that one. Then I'd eat that one. And after that, this one. And then after _that_ one I'd eat this one too. That's right, I wanted to eat that too, just one more time…

It was like something had possessed me and I spent all day thinking about that.

In regards to water, just a little─ though I say just a little, honestly it could still save me.

Beyond the beach was a sharp cliff. I noticed that the cliff face was moist.

At first I thought it was seawater, but when I gave it a lick, it was pure water. Was it rainwater or spring water? It didn't really matter why pure water was dripping down the cliff face, just that it was.

I fixed an emptied bottle to the stone and collected the water coming off the cliff face. Making some string from the frayed edges of my clothes, I attached one end to the cliff face and put the other in the bottle.

Using the thread as a connector, one drop, then another started to accumulate in the bottom of the bottle.

A whole day of collecting water results, at best, in about 2 or 3 mouthfuls of water, but it's enough to take the edge off the thirst.

I soon lost track of time.

When I was still in my hometown, I thought about how according to the adventure logs I read, if you went to an uninhabited island, you should simply tally the days on a wall.

But now even if I intend to do that, I didn't.

Even though I'm alive, I'm too busy for that.

Just wandering around with the intent of collecting food and water, the day came to an end. Just by wandering around I was thirsty and hungry. Even if I did nothing, I was thirsty and hungry.

At night it was cold and I needed a place sheltered from the sea wind.

While I was searching for food, I also collected branches and made a shelter. At the same time, I also had to collect materials to use for the boat when I escape this island.

Honestly, I had too much to do.

It seemed as though the sun set shortly after it rose. And the nights felt abnormally long.

In my shelter, my exhausted body drowsily rolled around, as the sound of the sea wind would suddenly pick up when it became night.

While I was drowsy, those strong winds would wake me up.

This would happen over and over again all night long. It was like someone wasn't going to let me sleep, so they made the wind blow the moment I started to drift off.

And every time I woke with a start, I muttered "Cold…" Those words came out while I was half conscious. I said that because every day was like a battle for it, yet I couldn't get a campfire going.

Was I doing it wrong? Was the wood on the island no good for making a fire? Or was it both of those reasons? Still, I had to do without a fire for those countless nights.

The beach at night was cold. But the forest wasn't any better for sleeping when the starlight didn't reach into its depths and the fierce ants from earlier are in there.

Wrapped up as tightly as I could in my long coat, I continually murmured "Cold…" Every now and then my unconscious rambling would startle me awake.

It was ironic, I thought.

I had come to be on a beautiful uninhabited island, just like the ones I dreamed about after reading about them in books as a young child. There, and thus now, I was dying.

Were reality and dreams all that different…?

My survival wasn't going that well, nor was Ace's boat making it seemed.

o-o-o

Afternoon. I walked down the beach and right now Ace was set up for another attempt to head out to sea. I wonder what number this one was in his attempts?

What Ace had made was more suited to being called a farce of a coffin than a boat. Riding upon it, he gallantly left the shore.

I watched for a while as the 'boat' dragged itself out to sea until I lost sight of it. And then soon afterwards, Ace came back soaking wet without the boat.

"Don't think that I'm done just because of something like this…!"

Faltering, Ace tottered away. That optimism from when we first met had taken hits and was changing, he was pretty much full of sadness now.

I too started tottering away in the opposite direction that Ace left. I had to gather food and water today too so that I could live.

My stomach growled.

You don't really notice it in yourself, but your face and body should become rather haunted looking.

Yet there I noticed. He was filled with sadness, yet I couldn't see that haunted look in Ace.

Without thinking I looked back. Ace was already gone.

I tried following Ace's footprints in the beach's sand.

If I thought about it, I was doing all I could to keep living, yet I had no clue what Ace was doing outside of building boats.

My tread was heavy. I was so exhausted I couldn't walk properly. Stumbling, I continued forward and at last Ace's back came into sight.

Hidden in the shade of a nearby tree, I got a look at his situation.

In the next moment I thoughtlessly let out a small "Ah!"

Ace stood still with his back to me and the beach. Where did he find it? For to my surprise, in his hand he held a big, round fruit.

My throat screamed for that fresh ripeness I could see the fruit possessed even at a distance.

"Where did he find that…! Shit, has he been eating fruit like that this whole time..?!"

I was already salivating at the fruit. My empty stomach growled to be filled. I stared holes into the fruit in Ace's hand.

At that time, I unexpectedly remembered what happened that day we met.

His father is the Pirate King. Ace had nodded, no mistake. His silence answered that question. He's the worst villain's son. The true son of a man executed and the fear of many people. The memento of a terrible criminal. It was unfair, that guy was living without thirst or hunger. How was that okay?

At that time, I was resolved to steal that fruit from him by any means necessary.

I picked up a thick tree branch from nearby with a grunt.

Then I desperately thought. Tried to come up with a reason. That's it, where I was born pirates and adventurers were made fun of together, so wouldn't that be because of the infamy of Roger? I don't know, but surely that's the case. So decided, I went for it.

Anyways, it was an uninhabited island. No one would see it. I didn't need any compassion. There was no need to feel guilty. Not when Ace carried the blood of the worst villain, Roger…!

With the branch club in hand, I staggered slowly and stealthily up to Ace.

I got close behind and in the moment I raised my arm up─

 _Gyururururu_ , my stomach growled.

"Aaaah…" I miserably sighed.

Ace turned around. I was noticed.

"Hm? Oooh, that's a nice branch!"

Ace took my club. Like taking candy from a baby. There was no way I was getting that fruit. I was already at my limit just standing.

Before my eyes stood Ace with my club.

I looked up at Ace with a pale face. My breathing became rough pants. He took my weapon and I didn't have the strength to run. I was going to reap what I sowed. That's what I thought.

But Ace's reaction wasn't what I thought it would be at all.

"Did, did you come to help with the boat?" Ace said, and he smiled.

"Uh, ah, uuuh..!"

With that I couldn't speak, and juts groaned. At the same time, I was miserably ashamed of my own actions. Tears naturally welled up in my dry eyes. I was thankful I was wearing a mask.

And right after that, even though this was the situation, no, exactly because this was the situation, my stomach let out a large growl.

With a bitter smile, Ace took the fruit in his hand and held it out to me.

"Here, you can have it."

Yet at that moment─

 _Gyururururu._

Ace let out a small gasp. Just like a response to my stomach, Ace's stomach let out a big growl. Ace also had an empty stomach.

Even so, I asked Ace, who was offering me food with a face that said he hadn't eaten any, "Th-there's a bunch more of these, right? Out there? Right?"

"Nope, I picked it up just now. It probably washed ashore here like we did."

I felt like I'd just been clubbed in the head. I couldn't face him, not like that. I sunk to the ground and noticed I was crying. Ace didn't seem to understand, but he remained silent.

What kind of fearful thoughts was I thinking?

I had decided myself that carrying Roger's blood made Ace barely human. Convinced myself that that made anything I did to him okay.

But I've only ever seen Roger in newspapers and books. I've never met him, never spoken with him. I was just swallowing the world's reputation of him, someone's opinion of him.

Where my thoughts really so shallow and ugly?

And there I had an epiphany.

This was exactly the reaction of the adults of my childhood that I was dissatisfied with.

Those adults made fun of Bragmen and looked at it with prejudice.

And I too looked at Ace with the same kind of prejudice.

Just when had I become such an adult, such a person?

But what about the real Ace?

Not even paying attention to his own hunger, he could share his food with someone else who was hungry. That was the kind of person Ace was.

That was the son of Roger, Ace who carried the Pirate King's blood, the man I saw with my own two eyes.

"What's wrong? You're hungry, right? Aren't you going to eat it?"

I answered Ace while sniffling, "I can't eat that…!"

I was embarrassed with myself. I wasn't someone Ace should give his food to. I wasn't worth it. I should suffer this hunger. At the very least that ought to make up for this sin, I thought.

"Eat it," Ace said with a little frown, pushing the fruit towards me.

"I won't…!" I persisted, shaking my head.

"Why not!? You're hungry, so quit refusing!"

"But- but you're hungry too, right…?!"

My will power was being stretched and my voice was raised. I was crying, yet I refused to lose. Ace made a troubled expression and said nothing. Then─

"Alright, let's split it in half. That okay with you?"

That said, I didn't have time to answer as he split the fruit in two with a knife he had.

"See, I'm eating. So you eat too."

With a little smile, he handed over half of the fruit.

With the wordlessly cut in half fruit before me, I forgot my resolve and received the fruit.

Ace took a bite of the remaining half.

"Well, it's not poisonous… yep. Tastes bad though," Ace said, steadily chewing the fruit.

I took a bite if the fruit in my hand too. With fresh juice dripping from the cut before my eyes, holding on to my resolve became impossible.

"It's good… It tastes terrible, but it's good…!"

I couldn't stop after that one bite. It was like I was in a dream and I devoured the fruit. As I ate, tears kept dripping down my face without a thought.

"So good… so good… I'm sorry, so sorry…"

I continued to cry as I ate the fruit.

Actually, it didn't taste as good as I said it did. It was actually the nastiest fruit I'd ever eaten in my life. Even so, I don't think I've ever felt like I've eaten such a delicious fruit before either.

I drifted ashore onto an uninhabited island─ amid the desperation of hunger and thirst, I finally tasted the true flavor of life.

Gradually the sky was dyed a deep red. Even today had to come to an end.

After we ate the fruit while commenting on how bad it was, Ace and I sat next to each other watching the sun sink beyond the horizon. As usual, just the scenery of this beautiful island could make you tremble. I thought of the skeleton close to the bush. Did he once get to see a sunset like the one we were seeing now when he washed ashore here all alone?

With no one to talk to, just him all alone.

As I thought that, did I appreciate Ace being there beside me? I realized that up until now I had not, in fact, been alone all this time.

Because Ace was here, I did my best to live even though I was alone. Because I thought of how there was someone else on this island, I choose to live in solitude.

When I thought about it like that, it was the same for Ace.

"This sunset─" Ace spoke up as a matter of course. "Even though I think it's pretty, just thinking on my own it'll come to an end. With no one to see this scenery, it doesn't matter how pretty it is, it's just so boring…"

Ace chuckled at that.

Soon the sun set, but I didn't feel cold tonight like I always did before. Was it because for the first time in a long while I had food in my stomach? Or was it because I was here with Ace?

It was strange. For some reason it felt like it was getting even hotter than it was during the day.

I casually turned to face Ace.

Ace was on fire.

That's not a figure of speech. He was literally on fire. Flames were billowing from his whole body.

"Hot! Eeeeeeeeh!?"

While I was screaming, Ace noticed the abnormality going on with his body.

"Uwah! W-what the heeeeeell!?"

Ace ran around screaming. I quickly started dowsing Ace with the sand from beneath us. However, the burning flames just merrily increased with no sign of any of them going out.

"W-why am I suddenly on fire!?"

As I threw sand at the unabating flames, I suddenly remembered a discrepancy.

Ace's body was suddenly engulfed in flames. Yet it looked different from his clothes and body being set on fire. It was strange, but it was like his body ─and what he was wearing too─ became fire together…?

"Uwaaaaaah! Hot…! Hoooot…! Ho─ It's not hot!?"

Ace immediately regained his cool. In that moment, the flames covering Ace's body became smaller before my eyes before going out. There wasn't a single burn on Ace's body, nor his clothes or hat, not one burnt spot or even a little bit of soot.

"No way… That fruit…" I muttered as I stared on dumbfounded, "was a Devil Fruit…"

Those are the forbidden fruits said to be incarnations of the Sea Devil.

True or not, if you take just one bite, you become the new vessel for that devilish power.

And in exchange for that power, it's said that those who eat the fruit are forever hated by the sea. In other words, they become incapable of swimming ever again.

I'd never seen them outside of books and even at their cheapest such fruits are said to cost a ridiculous price of 100,000,000 beri, and we just ate one without even knowing it. I couldn't think of anything else that could explain the mysterious phenomenon that happened right before my eyes.

"This is a Devil Fruit?" Ace asked as he stared at his restored palm. "Wait a second! If that was a Devil Fruit, then that means I can't swim anymore!?"

As he said that, Ace suddenly stood up and started running towards the sea before us.

And without the slightest hesitation, he entered the crashing waves of the sea.

"Hey, look, Deuce. I'm just fine. It really wasn't a Devil Fruit."

As he said that, Ace continued forward, deeper into the waves.

"It wasn't a Devil Fruit. I'm fine. I─ ah…"

Unexpectedly, Ace collapsed. He was like a puppet with his strings cut.

"What are you doing!?"

I briskly waded out to where Ace sank and pretentiously dragged him back to shore, where I noticed something.

"That's right, I'm… just fine…?"

I observed my own body in astonishment much like Ace had earlier. I wasn't suddenly on fire and even though I was wet, I still had energy.

"I guess a Devil Fruit only gives its power to whoever eats it first…"

Now that he was out of the sea, it seemed that Ace's strength had returned as he woke up with coughing up sea water. It was like his previous weakness hadn't even happened.

"And what's left is just a normal, nasty-tasting fruit, I guess."

As I said that, Ace stared at his fingertip. Then, in the blink of an eye, the fingertip went from trembling to transforming into a small flame.

Finally, we knew it was a real Devil Fruit.

"So this is a Devil Fruit… It doesn't really feel real, you know…"

Ace focused on his fingertip again. Then, the gently flickering red flames gradually returned to their former shape. The flames went out and there it was again, his finger just as it was before without a single burn.

"Hmmmm, guess that's that then…"

Seeing that Ace had calmed down about his powers, I asked, "Do you need a better explanation of Devil Fruits?"

"I told you before, didn't I? I've got a little brother. His name's Luffy and he's a Devil Fruit User too. So I kinda know more about adapting to it than most people. Well, we fought and I won every time, anyways."

"What kind of brothers… Speaking of that, how do you beat a newly made Devil Fruit User?''

His story jumped all over the place and I couldn't follow it at all.

"My little brother ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi, so he's a Rubber Man. It's interesting. I mean, his arm just stretches with a booooing, you know? "

Ace seemed happy telling his story as he stretched out a fist in an imitation of his brother.

Ace always had a happy air to him, but when he talked about his little brother he seemed particularly happy. They were family unrelated by blood, but I think it's exactly because of that that he truly treasured his little brother. Even trapped here on an uninhabited island that felt like it was at the edge of the world, these thoughts and feelings for his family wouldn't change.

"Getting stuck in the same circumstances as Luffy isn't such a bad thing, you know…"

Ace's expression became a little sharper.

"Though on an uninhabited island, this honestly… I can't swim anymore. If the next boat I make sinks, that's it. I won't be able to get out of here…"

Ace stared at his hands. This time it wasn't just his finger but his whole palm that turned into burning flames. The sun had set, yet his flames lit up the completely darkened beach. He was like a bonfire. Mine and Ace's shadows wavered to the sound of the waves.

Ace was silent as he stared at the flames. Ace's worry was natural, a given.

Those who ate Devil Fruits were hated by the sea and lost the ability to swim. And it wasn't just that they couldn't swim like a normal person. If they were submerged in water, they'd lose all the strength in their body in mere moments. That was how Ace's body worked now.

Just what did that mean? It was rather obvious.

There was a special current around the entire island. It was the Ant-lion Pit of the Sea. To break through that, Ace had made and challenged it with countless boats. Even if he was thrown from the boat, he could swim along while clinging to it. If the boat broke, he could swim back to shore. That's the way it was, until now. There was no way he could do that this time.

If he fell in, all he could do is wait for death.

That was the price he paid in exchange for the unexpected power of flames he'd obtained, that even as he could light up this dark night, he could no longer cross the sea.

Ace's power wasn't to make flames come out of his hand, it was the power to turn his own body into the gently flickering flames. The name of the fruit that turned him into crackling flames was the Mera Mera no Mi. Essentially, Ace should have gained the ability to overcome a force of nature, fire, but instead because of that power he was trapped.

His body could turn into flames, gush out burning flames, an overwhelming power of the natural world. That was all Ace's now, it was his to command, and yet─

And that's when I had a flash of inspiration.

"Ace! Can you manipulate that flame?"

"Hm? Well, I'd probably need to practice, but I should be able to…"

Ace held his hand out like a pistol and pointed it towards the sea, firing off a small ball of fire into the night. The fireball traced a parabola through the sky, soon melting into the night's darkness.

"Like could you just use the flame's force? Adjust the output maybe? Could you consciously control that?"

"I'm not really sure, but it's not impossible… I think."

Hearing Ace's answer, a grin spread across my face.

"We just might be able to get out of here then."

o-o-o

The next day Ace began special training.

Wrapping in flames and burning things. Using the force of the flames to simply blow things away.

Stabbing lots of tree branches into the sandy beach and using them as targets for repeated practice.

Thanks to Ace's ability to start a fire, even our survival was going better. Ace's knowledge from being raised in a jungle as a kid also helped a lot.

Digging holes to find spring water, filtering that water, then boiling and storing it.

And by passing them through fire things that seemed inedible became edible.

I also didn't have to suffer any more cold nights.

And so a few days passed. Soon Ace was able to freely manipulate his flames.

Before long─

"It's done…!"

We finally finished the boat. Our hands and clothes were pitch black from the charcoal. That was because Ace helped burn the wood for the boat after his training.

Carbonizing the wood by burning it surface drastically increases its durability, fire resistance, and water resistance, or so I remembered reading in some voyage log. I don't know how much it helps, but it should endure the wind and waves better than normal wood. The instant Ace can generate flames and then freely alter them, this boat will be completed.

That's how this boat will get moving. To break through the Ant-lion Pit of the Sea and escape this island, that's what we need. The power to simply go forward against powerful sea currents. It's impossible even with the man power of two people, but with Ace's flames I think we can make it. To be exact, with the force of Ace's flames.

"Listen up. The flame's force─ their energy, is used to turn this board. It should push the boat forward. I've given this boat the name 'Striker.'"

"Striker… This thing's going to bust through the current, huh? Alright! If you're sure, then let's have a pre-departure party! Let's eat all the food we can here today!"

"Those are our food stores, so you can't."

"Ah, is that right…"

At my side was all the food and water we'd collected to load onto the boat. I took two bottles of collected water from the pile and handed one to Ace.

"Well, we're heading out today."

"Sure are."

Ace flashed white teeth at me in a smile. We made a toast with our bottles of water.

o-o-o

The boat seemed to glide as she ran over the gentle waves. With Ace's vigorously burning flames as our driving force, we were going faster than rowing by hand and we didn't have to wait on the wind, so the boat just continued onward and onward.

We drew away from the island. We drew away from the cries of the sea birds. The grave we made for the skeleton seemed to shrink to the size of a grain of sand. From a distance, the island looked exactly like a beautiful paradise. The skies were clear and the ocean sparkled.

It was a strange thing, for I had suffered plenty of hunger and thirst there, yet leaving like this I felt some kind of regret. I didn't think I would come to remember this inescapable island of death with nostalgia. I didn't even feel like that when I fled my hometown and yet…

Then, as Ace looked back at the island with me, he calmly said, "At first, I thought finding treasure as fast as I could and then beating strong pirate, after strong pirate, after strong pirate was what I had to do to get my name out there…"

While holding down his vibrantly orange hat so the sea breeze wouldn't send it flying away, Ace quietly continued, "But I was wrong. I can't get famous with just that. No matter how valuable the treasure I find is, no matter how strong the pirates I fight and defeat are, if I'm alone, then it doesn't mean anything…"

"After all, the rumor that there was treasure on that island was really just a regular old false rumor…"

Ace moved to look at me and gave a fearless smile.

"So what do you think…" Ace turned to me and held out his hand, "about coming along… with me?"

I returned Ace's fearless grin.

"If it's with you, I've got a feeling I could write a real good adventure story."

With that, Ace and I firmly shook hands.

As we shook hands, I thought that I'd live the rest of my life for this man.

Was my nostalgia for the island because my life would have ended there the way I was going originally? That certainly would have been the case if Ace wasn't there.

But reality was different.

Somehow, Ace and I met, even though it was a place where there should have been no one to meet. Then he saved my life. And maybe that was my fate, I thought.

To live for him, to survive for him, and one day die for him. A life of no regrets. To have met someone who could make me think that, surely I'd be the happiest man in the world.

As we continued forward away from the coast, the waves steadily got bigger.

The waves tried to drive the boat back, the rising swells attacking the boat causing the hull to clack and tremble. But the boat continued forward fearlessly.

"Under different circumstances, I think we could have been friends for how we consider my father," Ace suddenly said, looking straight forward.

"I'm going to surpass them…! Waves, storms, and even Fate. With that, I'll have surpassed even my father!"

At the same time, Ace's flames burned even more vigorously. The boat sped up a few notches. It's shaking intensified too. I clung to the hull desperately.

Heading straight forward, cutting through the waves, it pushed through the current. The prow floated up.

In that moment─

The boat jumped free of the Ant-lion Pit of the Sea and danced in the sky. Dancing in the sky with us was the wave's spray, sparkling as it was drenched in sunlight.

I looked up at Ace as I clung to the hull. He was laughing. Chest held high as he looked forward, an innocent smile on his face.

Then Ace spoke of the distant heights we were aiming for.

"I'm going to… surpass the Pirate King!"

The skies were clear. The goal was the Grand Line. Looking at the sea ahead that could not be overcome alone, with just the two of us for now, the Spade Pirates were born to these words.


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

What are the qualifications of a Captain?

I think they have to be someone others will love.

In other words, a Captain should be like the sun, lighting up the dark seas.

Someone who's noticeably always in the center of a group, who naturally ties them together regardless of birth, how they were raised, ideals, or personality. Someone who no one loves and loves no one in turn can't be a Captain.

Ace is the perfect fit for a Captain.

If it attracts people, Ace has it. Just bravery and charisma don't cover all of what attracts them.

All those people attracted to Ace naturally joined Spade Pirates.

'Pirates' are of course outlaws, but the members of the Spade Pirates were even outlaws among other pirates.

People who had no place in other pirate crews, or normally people with careers who didn't originally intend to be pirates were taken in by Ace. Also those who that were naturally picked up during our travels as they appeared before Ace and some that had some mysterious aura to them.

And so as we continued our journey on the Grand Line, with Ace at our heart, the crew increased in size in ones and twos, and eventually we had to get a bigger boat.

Om that day─

o-o-o

"Gaahahaha! Aaace! I love you, man!" a man with a thin beard yelled like a rising blade.

"Shut up!"

With that my kick hit him squarely in the face. Just like that, he was kicked off the boat.

"M-my bountyyyyy!"

As he wailed, he fell into the sea with a giant splash. By the way, just now wasn't one of the outlaws attracted to Ace. More like outlaws who were after Ace, as in enemies.

As the Captain of the Spade Pirates and the one leading us, Ace already had a huge bounty. Having a bounty was supposed to warn people away, yet today the ship was under attack again.

Beside us was a bounty hunter group's ship. From there they were coming, one after another, boarding us as they raised their weapons and voices. There were a lot of them. Just how many times larger was their group compared to us? It made it hard to tell who were the pirates here.

In the blink of an eye, the deck of the Spade Pirate's ship became a battle ground.

Ace, who was their target, was immediately surrounded by countless bounty hunters to the point you couldn't even see him anymore. I was driven to the edge of the ship and most of the crew was separated by their ridiculous numbers.

o-o-o

It all started when we carelessly approached them to help since their ship was broken.

It seems these bounty hunters use this trick to attack the pirates passing by.

There's not a single person who sails the wide seas that isn't aware of how scary getting stranded out at sea is.

No matter who you are, you don't just sail on by when you see a ship in that condition. It's simply not done.

At a time like this, pirates, no matter the reputation, will stop by either out of mercy or to finish looting the ship.

In other words, no matter the pirate passing by, they will stop for some reason or another.

That was the goal these bounty hunters had gathered for.

As for tactics, I don't think it was a bad idea.

But when it comes to goodwill among men, to use the mercy of your fellow sailors like that, doesn't it make them worse than the pirates?

"Damn, these bastards have no manners at all…!" As I spat that out, I felt burning air to my right.

"Uwah!"

As I turn around, I get grazed by burning red fire. A nearby enemy gets sent flying with a pathetic scream. Ace had released a flame by punching out his fist.

"Ace! Be a bit more careful! You almost caught my coat on fire!" I automatically protested.

"Sorry! But you know I don't make flames that would burn my nakama!" I heard Ace reply from far away. He laughed as his right arm was clothed in flickering flames. It was as Ace said, his flames only ever hit the enemies while leaving us and the ship unharmed. Ace had steadily improved his use of the Mera Mera no Mi.

Even now, Ace's technique, Fire Fist, had become his epithet.

With those bright flames, Ace rushed down a thin strip of deck. The bounty hunters had no way to match those freely fluttering flames. On this ship that Ace was so familiar with, it was his turf. No one could stop Ace.

And as Ace's back captured my attention, I heard the retort of a gun.

I quickly turned around to find a single bounty hunter at my back crouched down and cradling his hand.

"Sorry, Sensei!"

As I said that, I kicked down the man in front of me. The guy's eyes rolled back and he fainted, but in the moment he lost consciousness, he probably thought it would have ben better to be shot than to take that kick from just now. After all, he got sniped from nowhere to knock his weapon out of his hand.

"Please be more careful, Deuce-san." I heard him call out from out of nowhere the same time as another gun retort. However, I couldn't see the voice's owner anywhere.

The shooter was a man named Mihal.

It started with me, but now everyone on our ship calls him "Sensei."

He's a rarity among sailors, carrying the out of place title of a teacher.

Mihal's dream is to sail the seas to the children of the world who can't receive an education, but, professionals or sailors, he was a black sheep and they wouldn't accept him. The only one to encourage that dream, who took him out to sea, was none other than Ace.

"When things are so noisy, I can't read my book in peace. It would seem our rude guests are in need of a short lesson. Let's finish this up quickly, shall we?" As he spoke, there was more gunfire. It was several shots this time.

With that, a little ways away, the bounty hunters' guns continued to dance in the air. And just like always, you couldn't see hide nor hair of him.

Because of his shut-in personality, Mihal seldom left the cabins.

He didn't leave even when we came to port and everyone went out shopping, instead keeping guard on the ship with a book in hand, so we also called him Mihal of the Indoors.

He had an intelligent look with his top hat and neatly polished glasses, but contrary to that he was pretty strong. Particularly his skill at sniping from out of nowhere, which was really reliable in a ship guard.

But─

"Really, where in the world is he shooting from…?"

Occasionally, I privately wonder if he really is a teacher.

o-o-o

"Ooo, that's a really nice gun you've got there," I suddenly heard, even though we were in the middle of a battle.

"Is it a North Blue model? That's a rare one. The skull engraving is real nice," that guy said as he studied the gun pointed at him.

He was a guy who stood out from the crowd with his whole body covered in skull accessories, which seemed like too much even for a pirate.

One of our nakama, Skull.

"Good tatse. You've got some good taste there."

He was the one pointing the gun, yet the bounty hunter wore a confused expression that asked, ' _Why are you praising me?'_

"But did you know they quickly discontinued manufacturing that gun? And why is that, you ask?"

As he said this, Skull boldly grabbed the gun.

"That's because the bullets get jammed."

"Eh, ah, what?"

The trigger clicked as it was pulled. The bounty hunter was impatient. However not a single bullet came out.

"Pointing that gun at me, you've really got taste."

The blood drained from the bounty hunter's face. At the same time, Skull's fist crashed into the bounty hunter's face.

"Hehe, this is rare. Think I'll use it to decorate my room."

Skull wore a thrilled smile as his eyes raked over the gun left in his hand.

He too was a changed man like Mihal.

Skull was a self-proclaimed collector of regular pirate mania.

He was a skull goods collector, in other words, he wasn't a pirate in the first place.

He likes pirates so much he was caught stowing away on a pirate ship, after which he started living as a weirdo who took care of odd jobs between ports.

Skull supposedly only did chores for lots of pirates just to be close to his favorite thing, but Ace was different.

Ace relied on his experience and knowledge gained from every boat he sailed on and the ports they stopped at all over the world. Skull had hidden qualifications as an intelligence officer of the sea.

Since he met Ace, Collector Skull has become Intelligence Officer Skull.

Skull feels a deep gratefulness to Ace for that self-recognition and vowed to become the world's greatest intelligence officer and to be a member of Ace's Spade Pirates.

Though he says himself that though he's an intelligence officer through and through, he still doesn't seem to be a pirate.

"Damnit… Your collection always creeps me out."

I spoke up to Skull in his spoils of war haze over the gun.

"We're still in the middle of a fight, you know."

"Oh, Master Due."

Skull turned his face up to me. Well, I say face, but Skull hides his face beneath a skull mask. As an intelligence officer, he considers even his own face to be a piece of information, even when nothing is going on.

I guess we reached the same conclusion from different thought processes.

Anyways, although there might be a price on his real face, no one who showed up yet was going to pay for it.

When we get new members on board we always see eager discussion of our true faces under the masks, but they just keep missing spotting us when our masks are off I guess.

Anyways, the three of us, Skull and me plus Mihal, are the brains in charge of the Spade Pirates. In other words, the intelligence team.

With Ace as our leader, the Spade Pirates pick a lot of fights. And because of that, inevitably I talk it out at length these two.

"Come on, it's a rare gun. Anyways, it looks like everything's just about finished."

Skull gestured with his chin to the center of the deck.

Flame Commandment

The flames around Ace swirled and the remaining enemies broke down.

As I noticed that, the angry bellowing stopped. It was replaced with the groans of the bounty hunters who had boarded us.

─ _that was pretty fast for the numbers we faced_ … I thought.

There was quite the difference between the corner where I fought alone against a fair number and the center deck where the battle teams had been spread out running around with Ace.

"Alrighty then… I think that about does it…"

Looking around at the defeated bounty hunters, Ace spoke up.

"You guys! Take your unconscious guys and get outta here!"

The barely standing bounty hunters were forced to retreat. Right next to Ace a large species of cat gave an intimidating growl, "Gururu…"

Our nakama Kotatsu. By the way, Ace named him.

Kotatsu the lynx. I guess he's a rare species, but I don't really know the details.

Their relationship started on a certain island where Ace saved him when he was caught and injured by a poacher's trap, and just like he followed Ace back to the ship.

When they met, he had become a big coward, but through our journey, he's gotten his bravery back bit by bit.

Like this people have come to be aboard the Spade Pirates' ship. That's how it happened for Mihal, for Skull, for Kotatsu, and of course me too. It's full of people who finally found somewhere to belong when they met Ace.

The Long-arm Ganryuu and the Fishman Wallace too didn't belong anywhere else until they joined the Spade Pirates. Ace didn't judge people by their race or appearance. There were things more important than that. He could see into their hearts. And he probably did it without realizing it.

That's why Ace attracted not only outlaws, but those separate from the world of outlaws as well.

Now, these outlaws weren't attracted to but targeting Ace, yet they were frightened by Kotatsu's low growl and like when they came, it was like a race to send them flying from our ship.

The unconscious guys, the conscious ones carrying their nakama, and even the ones regaining consciousness all went flying off the ship at full speed as they were chased by Kotatsu.

"Gururururu… Nyaan"

"Such a cute voice!" the last one screamed as they fell into the sea with an indescribable expression. Actually, contrary to his appearance, any cry besides Kotatsu's growl was really, really cute.

Speaking of, Kotatsu was only ever calm in front of Ace since the area immediately around him was warm thanks to the power of the Mera Mera no Mi.

With our attackers gone, Kotatsu laid down with a thump on the now clear deck. He rubbed his back against the deck as he showed us his belly. He was just a stupidly large cat in that moment.

With the nearby bounty hunter ship sailing away, the earlier struggle seemed like a lie in the quiet calm. That was the sudden impression aboard the ship. It was like after festival. Of course, it seems Ace felt the same.

"All right, you guys, let's partyyyyyy!"

At Ace's exclamation, the crew brought out barrels of alcohol and served up heaps and heaps of meat dishes, immediately turning the dead deck lively.

With food and alcohol in hand, the crew burst into song, made a ruckus, and took a breather.

There was no wind and the waves were calm.

But the Grand Line's weather isn't really something you can predict.

It was calm now, but in the next second you might have gale force winds.

It's just that kind of sea.

"One of those guys earlier said he loved you."

With a mug in hand, I heard Ace speak up from where he was leaning against the railing.

"Probably because he'd get rich if he could take my head," Ace answered with a laugh. Then he turned to look in the direction the bounty hunters had fled earlier.

I too turned a cautious eye that way. Even though we'd just passed through there, it was already covered in a dense fog to the point you couldn't even see the silhouette of a ship.

Damn, it was a whimsical sea.

"You're sure popular."

"Lately it's only been guys like that. Such a bummer," Ace complained, which he rarely did, as he took a drink of alcohol. Well, we'd certainly seen an increase in people coming to attack us for Ace's bounty. And that was because even in comparison to other pirates in the same class as Ace, his bounty was high. To have that high a bounty as a rookie who hadn't even been to the New World yet makes him look like a reasonable target.

We were just happy to see Ace's bounty rise.

And Ace was happy to see us happy.

However, only Ace knows why it's higher than normal.

Not the crew, not those targeting Ace, nor the Marines around here.

Probably no one knows.

Ace is strong, of course. He's even a Devil Fruit User.

And he was quickly sinking big name pirates one after another. The Marines couldn't catch him. It was natural that they were wary of him.

But was all that the only reasons Ace had such a bounty?

Just what was the motive for giving Ace a higher bounty then guys who did worse than him and had seniority over us.

That was the seed. I couldn't help but feel bad about this underhandedness.

I couldn't believe it after traveling with Ace for so long.

Ace probably knew the truth.

─Roger.

When I look at Ace's wanted poster, I remember that name.

However, Ace probably doesn't want to, shouldn't, admit that.

Even if it couldn't be seen, you had to notice the shadow of that existence over him, even as Ace kept his mouth shut, so I had no choice but to pretend I didn't notice it too.

"Ah, well, I guess being loved by someone is better than being hated and hating them in turn…" I said to lighten up the bland mood just a little.

"Even that bushy beard bastard─" I cut myself off without thinking.

There was a loneliness in his eyes as he stared into his mug, just like the dark depths of the seafloor.

He wasn't drunk.

"Ace…" I hesitated, opening my mouth to say something─

"Nau!" Kotatsu cried out.

The crew's noisy revelry came to a complete stop, the ship becoming quiet. Everyone followed Kotatsu's line of sight into the distance as he stared and growled. Kotatsu was looking in the direction of the deep fog the bounty hunters' ship had disappeared into. And looking there, we could see the silhouette of a single ship appear from within the fog.

"What the…? Are they coming back for another round?" Ace said. But there was more than just a single ship's silhouette.

In the fog, countless ships were coming into view. This was a fleet…

"Marines!?"

The seagull mark slipped out of the fog.

It was painted on the sails. It was one of the marks in this world no pirate wanted to see.

Below that, written in absolutely huge letters was the word "MARINE." Sure enough, those were Marine ships that had appeared. The smoothly lined up fleet was heading our way.

"That's Nailing's ship. We got found by someone dangerous."

Skull pointed to the leading ship.

"Nailing is rumored to be a really strong Ensign."

"An epithet, huh? Were they a former shipwright or something…?"

Listening to Skull and Ace's conversation, I gave the rest of the crew instructions.

"Open up the distance!"

One battleship surged ahead of the others. Moving with it, there was a gap surrounded by the other ships. The battleship had already entered the gap in the formation as it opened up the distance bit by bit with both sides. But it shouldn't have done that.

"So there's a reef area nearby. Looks like if we don't change course, we'll enter it. Full speed straight ahead! Sensei, the sea charts!" I gave instructions for Mihal, who was probably in the archives. Wary of the battleship following right behind us, I stayed topside going back and forth to keep her on course.

And then─

"This is a nice ship," said a voice I was unfamiliar with from right beside me.

It was a young woman's voice. Turning quickly, there was a single Marine standing on the deck.

And it wasn't just any Marine. She wore a fluttering white coat with the characters 正義 (justice) printed on the back like a cloak. Wearing a coat like that is only done by those in the Marines that can be called Officers.

"When the hell did she…!?"

Where did she jump over from, this lone Marine Officer that boarded us?

"Sorry to say it, but your voyage ends here."

She reached for a sword hanging off her waist. On the back of her hand was a terrible burn scar.

And the retort of a gun─

"Hmph."

A metallic ringing. She gave an amused snort.

Without changing her expression, she had drawn her sword.

"Oh my, she blocked it…" Mihal said from out of nowhere after a moment of silence. It had all happened in an instant. That woman had blocked Mihal's sniper shot with her unsheathed sword.

"What a monster…"

I unconsciously took a step back.

"Master Ace, that's Nailiiiing!" Skull screamed after a glance, having noticed her presence because of the gunshot.

"Oh? I thought for sure it was some sort of skilled old carpenter coming for us. Why's she called 'Nailing'?"

"Because she's said to leave her prey full of holes that are precise like hammering in a nail."

"So that's her thing." Ace said as he stepped forward, without even the slightest tremble in fear.

Ace was calm and collected. But so was she.

Without batting an eyelash, she started straight at Ace with strong willed eyes.

"I am Ensign Isuka. You're Fire Fist Ace, right?" she introduced herself in a strong voice. Then she pointed her sword at Ace. "You're under arrest."

"You…" Ace looked at her with rare serious face. "Have a bird-like name, huh."

For a moment, the air around them stilled ─or at least it felt like it did.

Ace's remark didn't fit the tense atmosphere. Yet the Officer, Isuka, didn't move a muscle. Silently, her sword stayed pointed at Ace.

"Can you really cut me with that?" Ace asked, grinning like a mischievous child. With that, his body seemed to flash like a mirage. The flash was him preparing to instantly turn into flames.

His whole body could become flames. That was the power Ace gained from the Mera Mera no Mi.

"As you wish, I'll fill you full of holes!"

Isuka moved before she even finished speaking. With speed that I couldn't follow she struck out with her slender blade.

"Uwah!?"

It might have been because there was too much force behind it, but even though Ace had turned into flames he was still pushed back by her sword.

"Captain Ace!"

"Guys, help the Captain!"

Even though the crew immediately surrounded her, Isuka still moved her sword around freely. It was like there was an invisible wall with no gaps in any direction. Even just a step closer and I imagine in a flash of her sword tip we'd be full of holes.

Nailing Isuka. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed she lived up to the name.

"Ace, don't run! Quit your futile resistance and come quietly!" Isuka lashed out at Ace in a fierce voice.

"So if it's not futile resistance, it's fine, right?" asked Ace in a light tone, having been pushed back by Isuka's sword.

Those two were quite the contrast.

And here I suddenly noticed that there was something strange about Isuka's tactics.

Isuka was one person. We were many. Both sides had a limit to their physical strength. With Isuka's tactics, either way it would without a doubt be her loss. Despite that, why had this woman boarded our ship without backup? Despite all the subordinates she had brought along, she was on our ship alone. Given that, if she was just buying time─

Noticing that, when I looked around, our ship's destination was already surrounded by battleships. I thought we were losing them, but the truth was they were steadily surrounding us.

─She used herself as a decoy…!

She boarded an enemy vessel all alone herself to open up space.

Despite my dislike, I gave it my full attention as we didn't have any choice but to deal with those actions. If trouble broke out on the ship, inevitably the ship's steering will become negligible. And if other battleships surrounded that gap…

Thinking about it, with just the one ship following perfectly behind us, maybe it was a plan to turn our attention to only behind us.

"Now, it's over."

Isuka thrust her sword tip at Ace again. However─

"Uwaaaaaah!"

From outside our ship we could hear shrieks. Of course, they came not from our Spade Pirates' ship, but the surrounding battleships.

"Well, would you look at that, it looks like we made it in time…"

Something in my chest calmed down. In that moment we'd made it to where we were heading.

"Didn't you notice the rocks around the bottom of the ship in your delirious chase?" I said, turning to look at the battleships. One of the battleships surrounding our ship was heavily listing to one side.

It was a reef area.

If you enter one without noticing, the waves will beat you against the rocks and it's impossible to navigate. If your luck is bad, it'll open a hole in the bottom of your ship and you'll sink. It looks like that's what happened to the battleship before me.

It was obvious from the start that their goal was to have the battleships surround us. I never thought the Commanding Officer would board our ship herself and fight us, but the point was that even if they wanted to surround us, our best bet was to make it a situation where they simply couldn't do it. That's why I had this place be our goal. I thought we would escape them without getting surrounded if we could slip through a gap in the reef area.

Raising their speed and with such vigor, they probably got caught on the sharp rocks. The battleship's damage looked severe. As I watched, it's listing got worse.

People and barrels were dropping off the listing ship.

The reef area's waves were rough. Because of all the rocks the waves crashed together irregularly.

In addition, those wave washed rocks were all sharp, so if you carelessly charge in you won't get off scotch free.

"It really would have been best if you noticed the rocks and quit following us…"

The fallen Marines were at the mercy of the waves. No matter how good a swimmer you are, a place like that is tough.

With that, Isuka sheathed her sword and stepped onto the edge of the ship.

"What's this? You're running?"

To Ace's foolishness, Isuka answered, "You idiot, I'm going to save them!"

That said, without hesitating she jumped down into the white frothing waves.

Leaning over the edge, we watched her progress.

Not even phased by the wild waves, Isuka swam. Then she extended her hand to her drowning subordinates. She got them clinging to floating barrels and planks.

"That's one amazing woman."

Skull gave a whistle of admiration.

But the relentless waves were strong. Even Isuka was at the mercy of the fierce waves. Countless waves washed over her head. Because she was handing out floating assistance to all her subordinates, soon there wasn't one for her.

Ace stared at Isuka's form. And then─

He quietly threw out a life preserver.

With strong eyes, she stared up at the Spade Pirates' ship, at Ace.

"Why did you save me!?" she shouted in a ridiculously loud voice.

"Who knows," Ace bluntly replied, turning away from her.

"Fire Fist! I definitely arrest you next time! I'll make you regret saving me!"

Our ship continued forward as we listened to Isuka yell this.

"She's a good person…" Ace whispered as we passed back around the reef area.

A Commanding Officer that without hesitation prioritized the rescue of her subordinates herself.

Thinking like that, I guess she was a "good person" just like Ace said. A battle plan to board an enemy vessel all alone yourself and buy time, it wasn't just because she was the strongest, but possibly because that was the type of person she was.

However─

"Thinking about how that scary woman is going to be chasing us around from now, it makes me want to cry…" I said with a sigh.

"But it's better than that bushy beard, isn't it?"

"Well, I guess so… It's just he's been chasing us for so long…"

That said, Ace and I looked at each other and laughed.

"Now then, how about we continue that party? Raise your glass!"

With Ace's lone command, the party started again.

* * *

 **Translation Note** s

I'm aware the wiki calls him "Mihar," but given the Japanese is "Mihaaru" I feel like the lengthed "a" sound softens the "ru" from an "r" to an "l" sound. I think if it was meant to be an "r" the "ru" wouldn't be on the end as the normal way katakana makes that kind of "r" sound wouldn't use it (ex. hanbaagaa=hamburger)

As for Skull calling Deuce "Master Due," the Japanese is "Dyuu no Danna," so Dyuu is the first part of Deuce (Deuce is Dyuusu) and since Master Nekomamushi is "Nekomamushi no Danna," I deferred to that and used "Master"

And for those of you who don't know, "Kotatsu" does have a meaning in Japanese. It's the name for the low tables with heaters under them and blankets draped over them that are often used in winter in Japan.


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As we continued our journey, the New World was before us.

We'd already made it halfway through the Grand Line. You could say the first half the struggle was over.

At this time, the Spade Pirates had grown to a total of 29 people and 1 animal.

Starting with Ace, the members of the Spade Pirates became people who could be placed apart from other pirates at a glance. With this, Ace's bounty as our Captain also greatly increased.

With this excitement ringing in us, we thought we could go bursting into the New World, but it seemed that it wasn't quite so simple as we were immediately waiting for a while on Intelligence Officer Skull.

"Coating?" Ace tilted his head at the unfamiliar word.

Lamplight filled the room inside the ship. Ace was sitting in a chair and at his feet Kotatsu's big body was curled up tight in a pleasant looking nap.

On the desk a sea chart was spread before him as Skull continued his explanation.

"Yep, you cover the boat in a special natural resin. With that you can travel underwater. It seems you can even dive all the way to the seafloor."

The next destination the Log Pose pointed to was the distant island on the seafloor: Fishman Island.

To get to the seafloor, you couldn't just continue sailing naturally as we had. It seemed going to the seafloor required us to get the ship covered in the special product, the Coating, by a specialized craftsman.

Furthermore, the one place to get that Coating was─

"Sabaody Archepeligo...?" Ace mumbled, eyes down on the map Skull had spread out. It was a collection of different sized islands. On Skull's recommendation, the Spade Pirates' ship was currently heading for Sabaody Archipelago.

"Sabaody Archipelago isn't actually made of islands. Each 'island' is actually one of the world's largest mangrove trees, a Yarukiman Mangrove. And the Coating resin requires sap from the tree roots that make up the surface of the islands."

"I see, so because they're not islands, even if we stay there the Log can't be overwritten, right?" I mumbled, also looking at Skull's map. The map had 79 islands marked on it. That they were all a collection of trees and people lived on top of their roots was a surprise.

"Our goal is to get a skilled Coating craftsman. However, no matter how fast they are, it's going to take three days."

"So we'll be stuck here for three days…?"

Ace made a serious face.

Ace doesn't look at maps much normally, so to see him making a serious face at the map before him now was an unfamiliar and strange sight. Though to say that we were 'stuck here' and not 'staying here' was an Ace-like expression.

"So, is the food good?"

That was also an Ace-like worry.

"It's the Sabaody Archipelago, as entrance to the New World it has great attractions. There should be plenty of restaurants with delicious food."

"Hmmm. I see…"

Even though he was worrying before, Ace quickly brightened up.

"Anyways, what's so bad about going to this spot with the skull mark?" Ace asked, pointing to the huge mark drawn on the map. With that, Skull raised his voice in full blown surprise.

"What are you saying, Master Ace? That's my mark. That's my aim for where we should land. Our goal point. The place we're currently headed for?"

"Is that so…? Hey, isn't this mark hard to understand…?"

"Eh!? Is that right? Well, guess it can't be helped…"

Skull reluctantly dipped the pen in red ink and surrounded the skull mark with a big heart.

Ace looked at me with a speechless expression. I understand the feeling.

o-o-o

The ship continued forward, steadily drawing closer to Sabaody Archipelago. We would soon be arriving at the goal on Skull's map, the marked place.

From up on the deck, we looked up to the trees towering up high into the heavens.

"Huge…" unconsciously slipped out of my lips. Towering before my eyes were trees even bigger than what I'd imagined.

From the roots of those big trees came the special natural resin. The ingredient for Coating. It was inflated by the air of the root's breath. Becoming big bubbles dancing up into the air. Countless bubbles made like this danced above the island.

The bubbles shined with rainbows as the reflected the sunlight. The sight was so fantastic that I was at a loss for words. In front of the city where bubbles danced I could see a big Ferris Wheel.

It was just like a dream. The problem was: could words even capture the entirety of this beauty?

"No, I'm not gonna lose."

Rethinking it, I pulled my notebook from my coat pocket. Turning to a blank page, I began writing, turning the scene before my eyes into words.

I wrote words down to the best of my ability in a haze. Smoothly, my pen continued without getting lost.

Today I was feeling even better than normal. My own genius was a bit scary.

Maybe I could do this. As I thought that, I heard whispering from behind me.

"Let's see here… 'Really tree. Super islandy.' What is this?"

"'Dancing up soap bubbly. Unable to say anything but awesome, I wondered where they might take me away to.' Just where in the world are you trying to go with this…?"

"'Was it okay for I, one of grass without roots for 10,000 years, to live on top of these roots? It was! Yes Sabaody.' That's just bizarre…"

I shrieked, "Uuwaaaaaah! Don't read it, you guuuuuuys!"

As I screamed, the deck was filled with laughter.

"Y-you, kukuku, want to write an adventure story, right!?"

"Isn't it, fufu, i-impossible like t-this?"

To my crewmates laughing questions I replied, "T-these are my idea notes! A prototype! It's going get even better than this! Just you wait!"

"Yeah, yeah. Well, it's what I expected."

"Anyways, just make it cool, please. I'm an active character."

Looking at the crew's backs as they said that and returned to work, I decided. Whenever I write an adventure story, no matter what, the only thing about them I won't use is their names.

o-o-o

The Spade Pirates' ship was docked between the roots coming out of the sea's surface.

To dock the ship, we searched for a place people shouldn't be able to spot.

Sabaody Archipelago of course has properly maintained ports, but those weren't near here. That's because to get the ship Coated, at the very least we'd have to stay on the island for three days.

In that time, if the Marines and bounty hunters and other bad professions' people spotted us, we wouldn't get that Coating.

There are plenty of lawless zones where the government's eyes don't reach in the Sabaody Archipelago, so we dared to choose such a place to dock our ship.

Compared to being pinned down by Marines and unable to move the ship, the lawless zones were preferable and could be called a familiar home to us.

Finding a shadowy place behind the trees, we quietly docked the ship.

As we prepared to anchor the ship, Skull warned the crew, "It's not just the Marines and bounty hunters. The World Nobles kidnap people… There's a lot of troublesome things to get you. Until the Coating is done, please stay out of trouble." Skull looked especially at Ace. "I'm begging you, Master Ace."

"Ah? What was that?"

Eyes shining as he looked at the island, Ace made a stupid face.

"Agh, if only nothing troublesome will happen…"

"I get it. Anyways, are those Graman things any good?"

"No you don't 'get it'…"

Grand Line Manjuu─ for short, Graman. A souvenir for this island. It seemed Ace's head was already filled with considerations of what to eat now that we were making land.

Talking a calming breath over Ace's behavior, Skull turned to me. Seeing what Skull wanted to say, I gave him a bitter smile and nodded.

"I'll keep an eye on him. If he went on his own, he might get over excited and burn some World Nobles…"

"Oi, oi! Listen to me! You know how good I am at intelligence gathering, and none of that is assumptions! So don't do it! Absolutely don't! Don't even consider it!"

Looking at Skull's suddenly frantic behavior, I laughed. Then Skull let out a laugh with me. As we were doing that, the ship came to a full stop. We'd arrived.

Once we finished carefully tying the ship down, the deck was wrapped in a relaxed atmosphere.

"Well, there's no way you'd find a World Noble in a dive like this, but we shouldn't be found by the Marines─"

"I've been waiting, Fire Fist! I didn't think I'd see you here for a long while yet!" a familiar voice said, mixing in with Skull's words.

"─ei…ther…"

Skull turned his head like he was covered in rust towards where the voice came from. I fearfully checked the area outside the ship.

"Get out here! I'm going to arrest you today!"

The owner of that vigorous voice was, needless to say, Isuka. She proudly stood there with her arms crossed, looking up at the ship.

"Did the captain already leave…?"

"How many times has it been…?"

At Isuka's voice, the crew started sagging. Not so much in fear as much as being a bit fed up with her.

Since entering the Grand Line, the Spade Pirates' ship has been persistently followed by a single female Ensign. That would be Isuka. A ridiculous woman with a burning obsession to arrest Ace, appearing at the next island and following us no matter how many times we shake her off.

But, as you can understand by how we've continued our journey safely until today, she hasn't succeeded a single time in achieving her goal. Ace was excited today too.

"Oh, if it isn't Isuka. What are you doing here? On vacation?" Ace called out from the deck in a rather easygoing voice.

"Like hell I'm on vacation! I came to arrest you, you stupid idiot!"

"Oh? By the way, are there any other specialties here besides the Graman?"

"You mean souvenirs? My subordinates bought Grasen because they're long lasting… I told you I wasn't on vacation!"

Isuka had screamed, but lots of people around here, including me, were probably thinking in the silence:

 _A vacation…_

 _It's a vacation…_

 _She's clearly on vacation right now…_

That's because this time Isuka was not wearing her Marine specified uniform like always, but what was obviously tourist clothing.

Didn't she just coincidently find this ship while on leave? If anything, she didn't have to meet us on the huge Sabaody Archipelago. Was that just the sort of insuperable relationship we had…?

If there was one thing to be said of Isuka, it was that she was a "good person."

Here feelings for justice were strong and she was seriously honest to a fault.

In a fight, she demonstrated monstrous strength, but it disappeared at the crucial point. That's why she always treats Ace as a nice person. We could escape from here.

That aesthetic had become something like a deciding punch line.

It wasn't just Ace. Even among the Spade Pirates crew members, Isuka was now established as a completely familiar existence.

If she heard that herself, she'd probably call it unwitting, but rather than a Marine, anymore there was a part of us that recognized her as a somewhat familiar odd acquaintance that often pops wherever we go.

"Geez… At least she didn't bring her subordinates."

Skull gave a sigh of relief. Because she was on leave or something, Isuka was all alone.

"If it's just her, it's just like it always is," Skull said as well in the end.

"Yeah, we'll have to hide the ship afterwards…"

Watching Ace and Isuka's very different temperaments in this exchange, I quietly nodded.

"Get down here, Fire Fist! Surrender quietly for your own good!"

"Well, looks like we can't head out for a while…"

While impressed with Isuka yelling up at us from down below all this time, I sighed. She doesn't change, this obstinate woman.

"That woman's got a spine. I'm so jealous. I want a woman with a spine following me around too…"

Skull had assessed her as a spitfire woman from before Isuka was always following us without giving up.

"She's a Marine…" I whispered back.

"That she is… There she is…" Skull sighed.

"You're getting your ship Coated, right? Then you can't run anymore!" Isuka said, letting out a high-pitched laugh. As for me, I wondered when exactly it was that this woman's voice became scolding.

As I indulged that thought, Isuka continued to rant. After a little while, my stomach growled.

I thought we'd make land and get something to eat, but with the current situation it couldn't be helped. Until Isuka tired and gave us an opening, we had no choice but to eat leftovers on the ship as we waited.

"Well, Ace, looks like we'll eat here─" I said, looking around the deck, but Ace was gone. At this point, I noticed that since a little but earlier Ace hadn't replied to Isuka.

"He…!"

I peeked down in a panic at the shouting Isuka's behavior.

Isuka still had her arms crossed and her attitude was unchanged from when we first spotted her staring straight up at our ship. That's right, she was staring directly straight up.

"Which means her view is narrow as well!"

Surprisingly, Isuka was straightforwardly watching our front only. Knowing that, Ace would unapologetically leave from a spot she wasn't watching.

"Fufu, you know you can't run, so you're too scared to talk, huh, Fire Fist!? Today you'll pay for everything! Oi, Fire Fist! Can you hear me? Answer me! What's wrong? Are you asleep?"

─he's already run, don't you see…

As Isuka continued ranting, I looked at her with pitying eyes. Right about now, Ace was leisurely eating specialties in the city.

However─

"Where is Ace-san?"

With a uselessly creepy squeak, the door to the ship's interior cracked open. The face you could see in the door's gap was that of the man who rarely came outside, Mihal.

"Sensei, how rare…!" I unconsciously said upon seeing the glasses and mustache peeking out.

Despite being a teacher, outside of teaching classes, Mihal shuts himself away out of shyness.

That the guy who usually squirrels himself away in the archives without hesitating when we arrive at a new island had come even one step onto the deck meant that something wasn't quite right.

Using the door like a shield, Mihal extended only his arm out onto the deck. Held in that hand was─

"It seems Ace dropped his wallet in front of my room…"

In that second I paled. Definitely not right.

"H-he… d-doesn't have… any money…? Then, w-went to t-town to e-eat…?"

"T-this is bad, Master Deuce. We have to stay here for three days still…!"

In a daze, Skull grabbed on to me.

"Y-you said you'd keep an eye on him!"

"I didn't think he'd disappear so soon!"

"W-what do we do!? If it keeps going like this he's going to burn a World Noble!"

"Burn one!? He's seriously going to burn one!?"

Considering the worst outcome, Skull and I shivered in terror. The Coating wouldn't be done for three days. Until then we couldn't leave this island. We couldn't move. That's why we couldn't afford any extra trouble happening. Even so, we'd already been found by Isuka…

"Damn it, I have to go! I leave things here to you!"

Taking the wallet from Mihal's retreating hand, I leapt off the ship to follow after Ace.

In front of the ship, Isuka was still standing firmly and yelling something.

She's just like a monkey.

It was easy to slip out from the corner with her eyes drawn elsewhere. It's probably how Ace made it ashore too.

To find Ace, the first thing to do was head for a place that a lot of people passed through.

Bubbles would sometimes float up from the ground before me. I ran as I dodged people and bubbles. The ground beneath my feet wasn't earth but roots and it felt really strange.

I noticed buildings and vehicles that used the sturdy bubbles. It seemed the roots that secreted the bubbles formed of the special resin served simultaneously as the ground and a support of the local islanders' economics. The island's businesses aside, I headed for the downtown area.

It didn't take long to find Ace. Or rather, it didn't take long to find the various restaurant employees chasing Ace.

"Dine-and-Dasheeeer!"

"He's over here!"

Angry shouts were flying all over the downtown. The street was overflowing with all the angry restaurant employees. Seeing this unusual scene, there was no two ways about it that this was the work of a beri-less Ace.

Since the long line of employees hadn't pushed that far ahead of here, Ace should be nearby. But even though it wasn't great, I couldn't just keep going. I had to get to Ace as soon as possible, yet─

Mind made up, I fixed my sights on what lay before me.

"It can't be helped… guess I have to talk with them a bit… 'Scuse me, coming through…!"

Lightly elbowing and pushing my wat forward, I caught the shoulder of the employee at the very back of the line.

"Oi."

When the strong employee looked back at me, I gave them a disarming smile.

"So… how much was it?"

And so I steadily worked my way forward bit by bit, apologizing to the employee and paying, apologizing and paying again and again.

o-o-o

When I finally laid eyes on Ace, it was at the Amusement Park where lots of attractions using the bubbles were lined up ─he was under the Sabaody Park Ferris Wheel.

Apparently the scent of the food stalls in the park had invited him this far.

Once I finished paying the last of the employees following Ace, I breathlessly turned to where he was.

Sitting on a bench near the Ferris Wheel, it seemed he was asleep. It looked like he was having a good nap with his mouth stuffed full of food. He had partially eaten skewers of grilled meat firmly grasped in both hands. I wonder if that's what I was paying for earlier?

"If you're going to eat it… pay for it!"

With that extremely common phrase, I chopped my hand against Ace's head.

"Ngh!?" Ace startled awake with his cheeks stuffed full of food. Looking around with sleepy eyes, he swallowed all the food in his mouth in one go.

"Pwah, good food… Now that I've eaten, it's time to run. Ah, but running well just make me hungry again…"

"What the hell is going on with your body…"

Polishing off the last of the skewers of grilled meat, Ace turned towards another food stall and I threw his wallet at him.

"Just take it and quite causing a mess."

"My wallet! …is it just me or is it lighter?"

"It's lighter, of course."

"…?"

Having caught the unrepentant Ace, I finally took a breath. Listening to children shout in joy, I idly looked up at the Ferris Wheel.

Looking up at that giant Ferris Wheel from directly under it, it was even more beautiful than when I saw it from the ship. The transparent gondolas shining in a rainbow of colors were elegant, twinkling in the sunlight as they slowly went around.

 _It must be a really nice view from the top_ , I idly thought. Well, it's not something for a grown man to ride alone, much less a pirate…

"Do you want to ride it?" Ace asked, having returned from the food stall.

"Me? Ride the Ferris Wheel? I'm not a damn kid, you know…" I answered with a snort.

"Have you ever ridden one before?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Then it's fine, isn't it? Don't worry, let's ride it!" Ace said, slapping me on the back.

And like that Ace pushed me towards the platform. I acted like I was unwilling, but on the inside I was excited.

The unsmiling attendant led us up the step as the bubble-made gondola slowly came closer.

"Alright. Please look forward to a fabulous view of the Sabaody Archipelago."

In the moment the attendant grabbed the door─

"I finally found you… Fire Fist!"

With her threatening attitude, Isuka forced her way into our gondola.

"Uwah! A-are you stupid…!" I said as I got pushed into the wall.

"You bastards, sneaking away…! Why didn't you come out the front!?"

"But you were there."

"What!? Even then you should come out the front! You're men, aren't you!?"

"That doesn't change anything!" Ace bit back at Isuka.

As the two began to argue, a terrible _click_ came from behind Isuka.

"Hm…?"

Isuka looked behind her. The Ferris Wheel door was locked.

o-o-o

The Ferris Wheel moved without a word. Inside the gondola was an uncomfortable air. _Why'd it end up like this?_ I thought.

I was sitting curled up against the wall of the gondola. Sitting next to me, Ace was enjoying the view outside the window without a care in the world

Sitting across from us was a rather displeased looking Isuka. Without even glancing at the view outside, Isuka wordlessly glared at me and Ace.

─ _I want off…!_ I screamed in my heart even though the ride had barely started.

It was like I couldn't breathe. Why did Pirates and a Marine have to ride a Ferris Wheel together?

I couldn't enjoy the view outside like this. It's just like being in prison. When would we get back to the ground? I never thought the slow pace of the Ferris Wheel would be this terrifying.

─back to the ground, quickly… no, wait. What would we do when we reached the ground…?

Isuka was probably behaving because it was too small inside the gondola to do anything, but I had no clue what she'd do once we reached the ground.

I took a gasping breath. This was hell.

Inside the gondola, on the ground, everywhere, it's nothing but hell.

"The bubbles that come out of the ground float all the way up before they pop, huh?"

Oblivious to my distress, Ace looked up at the sky without a care. Up until now Ace has been the only one to say anything, mostly things like "Ooo" or "Wow."

Aaace, how can you be that calm? That woman is, Isuka is staring really hard at us. Hard enough that it wouldn't surprise me if lasers came from her eyes.

I was so scared I couldn't bring myself to properly look at Isuka.

Avoiding looking Isuka in the eye, I somehow ended up looking at her hands.

There was a terrible burn scar on her hand. The same one I saw when we first met her. Seeing it again up close, it looked like a pretty old wound,

"What are you looking at?" Isuka unexpectedly asked.

I jumped in surprise at her sudden words. The inside of the gondola descended into silence.

"I guess I was wondering about that burn scar on your hand." When I finally realized what I'd said, I back pedaled. "Ah… I mean, sorry…"

"It's alright." Isuka gently smiled. "I got this when I was a child. The village I was born in was attacked by pirates. It was turned into a sea of fire in an instant. That raging fire swallowed up my parents…"

At the word "fire" Ace showed a faint reaction. But he continued to silently look out the window.

"While I was trapped by the flames and smoke, I was saved by a single Marine Officer rushing in to me. Lieutenant Commander Draw… He's been promoted to a Vice Admiral since then, but I joined the Marines because I wanted to be like him."

As she spoke, Isuka gently stroked her burn scar.

"When I look at this hand, I remember my childhood… More than that, I don't want the number of kids with memories like mine to increase. I'm going to arrest all the bad pirates."

Isuka kindly smiled. To her, that burn scar was a bitter memory, yet at the same time it was like a guide for her life.

Seeing this gentle expression on Isuka's face, that was the first thing I thought. Was it something that could only be seen while she wasn't wrapped up in her Marine uniform like always? Or was it─

"Fire Fist… You─" Isuka unexpectedly finished her story with, "should quit being a pirate."

o-o-o

At those unexpected words, I gasped.

"I don't think you're a bad person…"

Inside the gondola, time seemed to hold still. The hustle and bustle of the children in the park seemed far away. However, the gondola got closer to the top. Ace stayed silent and continued to look out the window.

"Wh-what are you saying…?" I stared in disbelief at the female Ensign before me. "Q-quit being a pirate? If he quits being a pirate… what about… the rest of us…?" My sluggish words quickly faded.

"If you have nowhere to go, come to the Marines. I'll recommend you." Isuka stared right at Ace with strong willed eyes. "You'd definitely look good in a Marine uniform. All your nakama can join with you. How's that? It's not a bad offer, right?"

─It was crazy…

I was speechless. But this Isuka, she was serious. Seriously inviting Ace, and even the Spade Pirates, to join the Marines.

Those we clashed with on one island after another in our journey ever since we entered the Grand Line.

Marines and Pirates were always the chaser and the chased, yet by some crazy nerve, she was able to make such a proposal.

No, it seemed that somewhere in all the drama of chasing us down again and again, Isuka stopped seeing Ace as just a pirate and recognized him as an individual. Pirates were the reason her parents were gone, so pirates were bad, yet even from this perspective of Isuka's, she couldn't see Ace as a bad person.

Ace kept his silence.

And then─

I heard a familiar _click_.

"Ah, would you look at that? It's open…"

Ace turned to us with a troubled face. At some point the gondola door's lock failed. Wind flowed into the gondola through the open door.

"You, opening that is bad─ no, you're bad for opening it!"

At the top of the Ferris Wheel, the gondola door was wide open. I thought he was just staring out the window this whole time, but obviously Ace tinkering with door.

"C-close it! It's dangerous!"

Even as I said that, Ace was already half out of his seat.

"Nah, I'm hungry, so I'm going to head down first."

"Huh!?"

Ignoring my astonishment, Ace headed for the open door.

"Wait. You haven't replied to my offer yet."

Isuka was calm. Her arms and legs were crossed and she hadn't moved an inch from her seat.

"Quitting piracy and becoming a Marine, was it…? That's not something I can consider."

Ace's eyes looking back at us were like the color of the bottom of the ocean.

But it was only for a moment. Ace's usual bright smile was soon in place.

"See you later, Isuka," he said, jumping out of the gondola. He landed on the roof of the next gondola down. As he was in the air doing that, flames sprang up from Ace's body.

Ace descended down them like stairs, kicking off of one descending gondola's roof after another's. It was quite the dynamic descent.

Eventually Ace reached the ground and raised a hand up at us. Ace left like that, me and Isuka watching his retreating back wordlessly. Our gondola passed the top and finally began its descent.

"…what do I do?"

"'What do you do?'"

"Ace won't quit being a pirate. We Spade Pirates will follow Ace. That's why up until now and going forward, Ace and the rest of us will always have to be your enemy."

"I guess you're right…" Isuka answered a bit sadly.

"So are you… going to take me hostage…?" Of course I didn't want that to happen, but I had to ask. "If you do, Ace won't run and he'll definitely come to save me. It's the kind of guy he is."

In contrast to me, Isuka gave a bitter smile.

"Those on the side of Justice don't take hostages. You stupid idiot."

And then,

"If that's the kind of guy he is, I wish we were nakama…" she faintly whispered.

The gondola slowly descended. Soon, the Ferris Wheel ride came to an end.

As we got close to the ground, Isuka purposely looked away.

"Let's start over. I'll let you run away today…" Isuka then continued, "Actually, today's my day off. I'm on leave right now."

"Yeah, I knew that."

Leaving the casually dressed Isuka behind, I left the Ferris Wheel.

o-o-o

In the time it took to finish the ship's Coating, Ace walked around touring the foods on the island.

He fully enjoyed that short time there without returning to the ship.

All the members of the Spade Pirates also passed the three days doing what they wanted.

Mihal stayed on the ship like always, even as it was being coated.

Skull watched over the Coating process as a representative of the crew.

With this, some of the crew went to repair the ship, perform equipment maintenance, and clean.

Some of the crew went out to buy furnishings and food and weapons, of course, for going to the New World. Some spent the whole day napping with Kotatsu. Some enjoyed a fancy vacation. Some wandered the shady back streets. Some actively hunted "pirate hunters." Each day passed quickly.

Completely stuck as the manager of Ace's wallet, I was saddled with walking with Ace around the island. And that wasn't all, Ace had a high bounty, so as we walked around pirates who wanted to raise their fame by fighting bounties would attack us.

Of course, Ace didn't seem to have any trouble dispatching the random attackers and enjoyed the food.

Having Ace with his bounty not return to the ship was a wise choice. It would be troublesome to tell those targeting Ace where our ship was being Coated.

Though Ace didn't give that a single thought and seemed to just be going into whatever shop was in front of him…

And then, on the third day─

Soon the ship's Coating would be done. We hadn't seen Isuka since the first day. I wonder if she was back off of leave? No, she'd probably come out again with her subordinates. Thinking about that, I worried about our departure.

This day too, Ace continued to walk around and eat. He had especially taken a liking to the Grasen Isuka had mentioned and had bought enough that he was carrying some in each hand.

The Grasen were consumed with a neat crunching sound. The Gransen were packed in boxes as they were meant to be souvenirs, but he opened them after buying them and began devouring them.

"How many boxes are you going to eat…?"

I asked in disbelief as I walked along with Ace.

"I'm glad I bought more… This isn't enough to fill me up."

I thought he'd had more than enough to eat, but it seems Ace wasn't satisfied yet.

Speaking of that, while we were buying Grasen some bounty hunters after Ace got in the way. With the sudden attack, we had to finish paying and run, but it seems that Ace didn't think we'd bought enough.

Though it was probably pretty unbelievable to the bounty hunters that their bounty target would be casually purchasing souvenirs at a tourist spot. But that's the idea of being too famous for ya.

Furthermore, we'd already dealt with several groups of bounty hunters today alone. As could be seen, we got tangled up with bad guys, but Ace beat them all back without any real problems. However, as we were dealing with those guys, we wandered away from the downtown and into a slum.

Unlike the lively downtown, this place had a dejected air to it. There was trash scattered around and the building all looked like ruins.

"I'm hungry… I don't suppose they're selling Grasen…"

He still had a fair amount left in his hands, yet Ace said that as he looked around us. But from what I could see, the public order here was bad, a place even lost tourists didn't step foot in, much less a place for a shop to sell Grasen to be.

A corner of the slum far from shops or main streets. Wandering around, we were rather conspicuous. In the shadows of collapsed buildings were little children watching our every move. I guess those kids lived here.

And then Ace beckoned for the nearby kids to come over.

Ace handed out his Grasen to the terrified children one by one.

The children soon smiled. They held the Grasen like treasures and ran off. It felt like the air of what I thought was a gloomy alley softened just a bit.

When Ace handed out all of his Grasen, I dared to ask, "You okay with this, Ace?"

"Yeah. Now that I think about it, I'm full."

Watching Ace watch the kids leave, a smile tugged at my lips.

o-o-o

We gradually started making our way back towards the ship, searching for a way back.

"Agh, now?" I thoughtlessly complained when I spotted a figure coming at us from an alley.

Isuka came wearing a white coat that really didn't fit in in the slum in my opinion. Today she was properly dressed in her Marine uniform. That meant she came here on business. If she was going to come after us, I had just expected her to target us after we'd set sail, so meeting her here was a surprise.

"Oh, it's just two of you today…" Ace whispered curiously. Behind Isuka was not her usual subordinates but a single man in a Marine Officer's uniform.

Furthermore, he had the same coat with 正義 (justice) on the back.

"Wait. We came to talk today," Isuka said, looking towards us. Stepping out of the alley and entering that corner of the slum, Isuka and the man faced us without weapons in hand.

"Cheer up, Fire Fist, it's a good offer!" Isuka's eyes shined. Then she introduced the man beside her. "This is Vice Admiral Draw. The one who saved me when I was a child."

"Ensign Isuka, let's keep this brief."

The man called Draw stepped out before us. He was about a head taller than Ace, but he was rather muscular. Because of that he was intimidating than he looks standing right before your eyes, a man befitting of the expression giant.

"Fire Fist Ace, this is addressed to you."

Draw took a letter out of his pocket and we opened it up and looked at it.

"Sh-Shichibukai…!?"

The writing before my eyes made me doubt what I was seeing.

It was a letter issued by the World Government. And its surprising contents was a recommendation by the highest World Government authority, the Gorousei, for Ace to become one of the Ouka Shichibukai.

Speaking of the Ouka Shichibukai, they were a powerful force that on one on the Grand Line didn't know of. They were pirates that were recognized by the World Government.

Pirates authorized by the government as a powerful deterrent to other pirates─ for Shichibukai, more than anything strength and a well-known name were desired. And Ace had been recommended to be one of those Shichibukai.

"So how about it, a good offer, right? This way you don't have to quit being a pirate!" Isuka said with a happy looking face.

On the Ferris Wheel, Ace had no intention to quit being a pirate and refused Isuka's offer. However, obviously if he became an Ouka Shichibukai, he'd be accepted by the World Government while still being a pirate and be in a position to work with the Marines.

Anyways, if he joined the Shichibukai, he would receive amnesty from the World Government, they would suspend his bounty, and as long as he paid the decided amount to the government, he'd be accepted as a pirate by the public.

However─

"Shichibukai, huh? Sorry, but no thanks," Ace easily refused the invitation. It was a prompt decision.

"W-why…? If you accepted this proposal you wouldn't be chased by the Marines anymore. Don't you want that?"

Isuka couldn't completely hide her surprise. After all, as Isuka said, this wasn't a bad offer. Rather getting the title of Shichibukai was something lots of people would trade an arm and a leg for. It wasn't something they could hope to achieve. And Ace hadn't hesitated to kick all that to the curb.

"Sorry, but I don't even like the Shichibukai system itself in the first place."

"That's─!"

It seemed refusal had never even occurred to Isuka and she was frankly dismayed. Draw standing next to her didn't even so much as raise an eyebrow at it. To the contrary, he quietly smiled.

"How marvelous, Ace. The truth is, I've always thought the same thing about it as you…" Draw said quietly, laughing. Then he ripped the letter they brought in half.

"Vice Admiral, what are you─!?"

"Pirates aren't something to be domesticated or used. It's best to dispose of them as quickly as possible. Right, Ace?"

In the next moment, draw raised his fists.

"Hmph!"

With a roar, his fist split the air. His fist easily drilling into where Ace had been standing until now.

"Well, aren't you a calm one…" Ace bitterly mumbled, from where he had dodged Draw's strike.

"Shit, didn't you come to talk!?"

I quickly opened up distance between us.

"Please wait, Vice Admiral! We're just supposed to talk today─!"

"Talk? Haven't we already settled things, Ensign Isuka? Ace has no interest in the Shichibukai. Coincidentally, I don't like the Shichibukai either. Furthermore, Shichibukai or not, I don't like pirates in the first place. I'm truly glad he refused right before my eyes. This way I can beat the pirate, Fire Fist Ace, without any worries!" Draw said, taking off his Marine coat.

A really strange object was revealed rom under his coat. Draw had cylindrical weapons strapped to both arms. They didn't appear to be bazookas or tonfas, but a tube from the back of the cylinders each connected to a container on his waist. Now that I could see his figure clearly, his strength probably came from carrying those weapons under his arms.

"His Mera Mera no Mi powers or my gear, which is better? Let's find out!" Draw's cheeks were stretched by his wide grin. Those eyes shined full of killing intent.

"Let's get out of here, Ace!"

The moment I thoughtlessly screamed that─

"I won't run."

From the tubes fierce flames were expelled. It was a flamethrower. So what the tubes connected to was a fuel tank? In an instant the endlessly spewed flames cut off our retreat.

Before you could say anything, we were surrounded by flames. The buildings burned, then the children who lived there began to shriek. Surrounded by fire, they couldn't go anywhere.

"What are you doing, you bastaaaaaaard!?"

Ace quickly ran over to the children. And Draw aimed at Ace.

"Right there."

Licking at the ground, flames were sprayed at Ace. Ace spread both his hands and his whole body caught fire. With his whole body changed to fire, Ace canceled out the spray of flames.

"Vice Admiral! Please stop!" Isuka said, gaze stuck on Draw. "There's children!"

"Children? What are you saying, Ensign Isuka? I'm just attacking pirates. I won't let them escape. If the pirates are unleashed, more children than this might be brought misfortune. Am I wrong, Ensign Isuka?"

Draw didn't look at Isuka. He just looked straight at Ace, and continued to intently wash him in flames.

Meanwhile, Ace couldn't move. The flamethrower's blast was too strong, so Ace couldn't go forward. But if he retreated backwards, the children would be swallowed by the flames. He couldn't make any progress like this.

I ran towards Draw.

"Uoooooooh!"

Like that, I came at him from the side.

"What are you─!?"

I never thought I'd be flying at him so suddenly. Draw made an astonished expression.

My exposed skin was screaming from the proximity to the hot air. My clothes and hair were getting scorched. But I clung to Draw and didn't let go. Quickly Isuka rushed over to the kids.

"Hurry, this way!"

Isuka ran away with the children in place of Ace, who couldn't move. Isuka desperately reached her hand out to them from between the crumbling buildings. It was the hand with the burn scar from when she was a child. She lost both her parents at that time, so that's probably reached out so desperately.

I could hardly imagine the sadness and fear. Just what feelings she had to overcome to reach out to those children right now.

Among the burning flames, the characters 正義 written on her back were flickering. Watching Isuka rescue the children out of the corner of my eye, I smirked.

With this, Ace could move─

"Bastard…! What are… you doing!?"

Draw drove his knee into my stomach.

"Guh─!"

Once, twice, three times… but even so I took the hits and didn't let go.

"Won't let go, huh!"

Taking an even stronger hit, I threw up as I toppled over. My insides felt like they'd been put through a blender. I couldn't breathe. The heat rising from the flamethrower formed a ring and made the air stuffier.

But I'd already played my part. Coughing violently, I silently laughed.

"I pulled… it out… finally… take a look…"

"Ah? What are you talking abo─"

Looking down at me, Draw soon noticed the damage.

"The fuel tank…!?"

The fuel tank at the back of Draw's waist─ the tubes that were supposed to connect to it no longer were. And now the fuel leaking out was soaking into Draw's clothes.

I hadn't been just blindly clinging to Draw. I was clinging to the tubes that supplied his flamethrower with fuel.

After all, once the tubes were disconnected, you had a flamethrower without fuel, which is─

"The flames─!" Draw bit out. The strength of the flames spraying out got steadily weaker. And that wasn't all. Other flames pushed back from straight in front of the flamethrower, drawing closer.

It was Ace.

Ace's fist plowed into Draw's face. The fierce flames engulfed Draw's face.

"Guwah!"

"Duece, stay with me!"

Ace was going to help me to my feet. However, in the next moment, Ace's body was floating in the air. No, Draw had grabbed Ace by his neck and was lifting him up.

Draw shook off the flames like one would shake away a fly. He was unharmed.

The punch had landed. But Draw wasn't beaten and smiled calmly. In fact, he held Ace in his hand even though the Mera Mera no Mi should allow Ace to become flames.

"Is that… Haki…?" Ace said, face twisting.

Haki.

A potential power dwelling in humans that's said to awaken after long and harrowing training. Most off the strong members of the Marines could use Haki. Powerful Haki was even said to sometimes surpass the power of Devil Fruit Users by a bit. That's exactly why he could grab flames with his bare hands.

"Fire Fist Ace… did you really think you could play around with me? That pathetic level of flames can't beat me. Pirates of your level get chewed up by the New World."

Draw's hands squeezed Ace's neck like a vice. Ace weakly struggled against him.

"At your level, you'll go no further than this. Your little pirate game ends here. I'm going to bring it to an end. I'll give you the guidance of Justice…!"

"Heh, I don't… want to hear… a guy who gets kids involved… talk about Justice…" Ace painfully groaned.

"Don't twist words. I don't get children involved. The one who gets children involved is you, Ace," Draw said in a low, purring voice. "If pirates are involved, that's the way it is! You understand, right, Ace? Because you are there, the children get hurt. You see, I just do my best to capture pirates. But you're different, right? You shouldn't be alive. Your very existence has many innocent people living in fear. Open your eyes."

Ace was silent at those words. Ace's strength was fading. I couldn't look away from the dark shadow passing over Ace's face.

"Quit screwing around… you bastard…!" I said, raising my voice, still coughing. I hadn't stood up again either. "Ace… he's wrong… don't listen… to him…!"

But my voice was drowned out by Draw.

"I only you weren't here, no one would be put into misery. Isn't that right? If only pirates weren't here, I wouldn't need to spray fire around like this."

Ace had already stopped resisting. Just when I was getting desperate─

"Vice Admiral… that's a lie, isn't it…?"

Having finished evacuating the children safely, Isuka had returned.

"The one who burned my village… should have been a pirate…" Isuka was crying. "And, back then you… saved me…"

"If I see an injured child collapse before my eyes, I'll save them. I'm on the side of Justice after all."

"My parents, though…"

"Just what are you trying to say, Ensign Isuka? If it's for Justice, some sacrifices have to be made, right? Don't you think you're making too much of a fuss for a mere handful of civilians getting involved?"

In that moment, Isuka collapsed. Biting her lip, her voice died in her throat as tears streamed down her face.

In Draw's words, they were unimportant sacrifices. But to Isuka, that was the town she was raised in and her parents.

That was the form of the Justice she aspired to and continued to believe in since she was little. What a cruel ending.

Listening to the sobs leaking out of Isuka, I quietly stood up.

"You said your name was… Draw or something, right? You know, you really shouldn't make Ace angry."

He spit the accumulated blood out of his mouth. Flames were already crackling and overflowing off of Ace's body. The strength had returned to Ace's eyes.

"What are you saying? Try as much as you'd like, but this level of flames won't work against me─"

Draw gasped. The fuel soaked into his clothes was burning. And without hesitating, Ace washed the fuel tank in flames.

"You bastard!"

As Draw almost screamed, an explosion occurred. At close range, the fuel tank blew up. Blown away, Ace was free at last and he quickly stood up before slowly turning towards Draw.

"Guh, sh-shit…"

Draw staggered to his feet.

Unharmed by the debris scattered by the blast, Ace confronted Draw.

"My flames may not work on you since you can use Haki, but─"

Ace punched forward. Draw met his attack.

"Haki can't erase flames of rage."

Fist met fist. Power and power collided.

"Shit. Why… why won't you fall!"

Gradually, Draw's strength was exhausted. Draw took damage from Ace's fist.

"Impossible… you…! You too…!"

Draw's eyes held astonishment in them.

"He was really too careless…"I quietly whispered. Draw really didn't know much of anything about Ace.

Like the fact that Ace was really strong even without his Devil Fruit powers.

And that Ace always grew and got stronger during a fight.

"Guhah…!

Taking Ace's punch, Draw reeled. Ace's attack had completely overwhelmed Draw.

"Impossible… why... why…?" Draw was out of breath and his face twisted in pain. "Why can you… use Hakiiiiiiii!"

"Well… who knows!"

Flames raged from Ace's arm. With those flames driving Ace's fist forward, it was like a meteor's tail. It didn't ever burn out, and Draw's eyes bulged. In that moment, their fists crossed.

Ace was hit in the chin by Draw's punch.

Loud enough to be heard, Ace spat out a tooth. His legs were trembling and unsteady.

"I have no interest… in shit…"

The one to fall was Draw. Ace's punch had landed an overpowering hit to Draw's chin.

"Well what d'ya know… I was thinking the same." Ace said looking at the unconscious Draw and he staggered. I quickly supported Ace. I had intended to lean on Ace's shoulder earlier, but now the situation had ended up reversed.

"That was really something, beating a Marine Vice Admiral…"

"He wasn't that important…"

Ace smiled as he panted heavily.

"We gotta hurry back to the ship… Before the Marines surround it…" I said, yet Ace hesitated.

The spreading flames were already burning out. Soon, the slum would be back to the way it was before.

Among that was only one person, Isuka alone, who could no longer return to how things were.

At that time─

To fight Ace, Draw had thrown away his coat with Justice engraved on it.

Isuka carry the characters of Justice in her back, had saved the children's lives,

That was the answer.

Maybe if it was as it was originally, there'd be no one more suitable to be a Marine than her. But that wasn't the way it was in reality. She might not have a place with the Marines anymore. That's what I thought. The reason she'd joined the Marines had just now been crushed into pointless noise.

Betrayed by the one she believed in, snuck to her knees in despair, and pitiful, we couldn't leave Isuka like this.

"Isuka… board my ship…!" Ace called out. "Of course, I won't make you be a pirate to do it. Be a bounty hunter. You're strong, so it'll fit you just right, yeah? And it's fine if you're always after my head. We'll be on the same ship…" Ace said, offering his hand.

Wiping her tears and sniffling, Isuka laughed.

"You stupid idiot… Fire Fist, you'd hold hands with bounty hunter after your head?"

"Sure would."

Ace gave her a wide grin. With that, Ace gently grabbed her hand.

"Let's go."

The three of us fled the slum, running across the city of dancing bubbles.

o-o-o

There was already a large amount of battleships lined up in the port and offshore. They had gathered to prevent us from setting sail. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed the Marines didn't want Ave to go to the New World.

Leaving the back streets and staying out of the Marines' sight, we zig zagged across the island. I didn't think Ace's wandering eating would come in handy like this. We were able to choose roads people weren't looking at to continue forward.

We had to return to the ship quickly.

But even if we moved the ship now, it was probably already too late. Delaying would get us surrounded the instant we left the shore. To escape, our ship needed to already be prepared for departure and on the move.

But Ace and I weren't worried about a single thing.

If it's the Spade Pirates, then they were surely already moving. The two of us truly believed that. That's why we weren't headed for where the ship was Coated. The ship probably wasn't there anymore. If it had stayed there, there'd be no going anywhere.

So we had to go to where the ship should go. Where were we getting on the ship?

"There's a small cape up ahead. It has to be there!"

"Right!"

We were convinced of that. That's because it was the one spot on the map Skull drew the skull mark on.

Leaving the thicket, we came out in an open area. The cape. The ship was─

Before our eyes was only the blue sea. No,

"Captain Ace!"

"You're late, Ace!"

In a heartbeat, the ship appeared. Delighted voices rose up from the deck. Our nakama had already set sail for us.

"Masters, hurry!" Skull said, waving his hand at us. We had no time to stop. We had to jump aboard. Gathering my nerve, I jumped onto the ship.

"Ace, hurry up!"

Even as that happened, the ship continued forward without stopping. If it slowed down even a little, the Marine battleships would run us down.

"Yeah, let's go, Isuka," Ace said and jumped. It was only Ace jumping.

"Why…!?"

Ace's eyes widened. Isuka had remained on the cape.

"The thing is, I'm still a Marine Ensign… I can't go with you," Isuka gave a powerless smile as she stood on the cape alone.

"Why are you doing this!?" Ace was pressing up to the rail of the ship he'd jumped onto, but the distance to the cape only got steadily wider.

"Don't die, _Ace_. Thank you."

The distance to Isuka widened. The ship didn't stop. It couldn't stop.

"Was it okay for us to be connected like that…?" Ace whispered, sagging down. "But I guess it can't be helped… I can't hold her hand. I'm a pirate and these hands become flames…" Ace pulled his hat over his eyes.

"Ace… you…" I didn't know what more to say.

Ace usually acted like he thought he was an unlovable existence. When confronted with this, Ace's face, his eyes, always held a dark shadow.

But, surely she, Isuka, didn't think that.

It wasn't just Isuka.

Ace was the only one who didn't notice that.

o-o-o

Ace is a man like the sun.

Everyone is drawn to Ace. Enemies were at a loss with him. Ace was always at the heart of the group.

But because the sun shines too brilliantly, it's always alone. No one, no one at all can snuggle up to a sun. Because if you stand next to it, you burn.

Ace made a place for us to belong. But could we really become a place for Ace to belong? Or in the New World ahead, could we find a place with Ace that he could gently smile from the bottom of his heart?

I didn't know the answer yet. Today we could only forge ahead.

The Marine battleships were already approaching from the front.

The descending cannonballs roared as they hit the sea. Several columns of water were raised and fell from the cannon fire. The spray fell on the deck like rain.

Another roar. This time it wasn't cannonballs.

Ace's Fire Fist had cut open a path.

"Let's go, you guys!" Ace yelled in a voice the whole crew could hear. No matter what separation may occur, as the captain, Ace had to keep fighting.

As the ship lost the pursuing Marines, we rushed towards the distant seafloor to head to Fishman Island.

The sunlight doesn't reach past the sea's surface, so only one shade of darkness remained.

In the depths of the sea, where the light doesn't reach, Ace's one ambition continued to burn.

The goal was the New World. The target was Whitebeard.

The head of the one man currently closest to obtaining the One Piece.

The ship slowly sank in the darkness.

* * *

 **Translation Notes**

Given the nature of the Graman name scheme, Grasen are probably Grand Line Senbei (rice crackers)


End file.
